Marvel announces Blade movie starring Mahershala Ali to rapturous applause at SDCC

You never really know what to expect when Marvel comes to San Diego Comic-Con. Case in point, at their giant panel today, Kevin Feige announced out of absolutely nowhere that Blade was officially becoming a part of the MCU. 

The initial Blade films, starring Wesley Snipes, were made long before the MCU was a gleam in anyone's eye. In many ways, the first Blade film in particular is responsible for comic book movies going mainstream in the first place. After all these years, the day-walker is back... though technically he returned a few weeks back, as Snipes made a cameo as the character (kind of) in What We Do in the Shadows. 

The day-walking vampire hunter will now be played by Oscar winner Mahershala Ali, who came onstage at Hall H as the place went absolutely berserk, as SYFY WIRE witnessed firsthand.

Ali is not a stranger to genre fare, having recently appeared in Alita: Battle Angel. Heck, he's not even a stranger to the MCU — if you consider the Netflix shows a part of everything, then technically Ali has already made an appearance, as he memorably played Cottonmouth in the first season of Luke Cage.

It seems like he's moving up in the MCU world, and we can most definitely see him playing the holy hell out of the bada** sword-swinging vampire hunter. Even better, this time he'll be connected to the entirety of the MCU. 

It's safe to say that fans were happy with the choice. Blade will officially join the lineup of the MCU's Phase 4. 

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