Mahershala Ali to play Blade in new Marvel movie

Mahershala Ali is ready to hunt some vampires.

Marvel made a slew of exciting announcements during its epic Comic-Con panel on Saturday night, but they might have saved the best for last: Ali will star as the titular character in a new Blade movie.

Ali made an appearance at the end of the panel to reveal the news that he will be taking the sword from Wesley Snipes, who previously played the Marvel Comics character in three films from 1998 to 2004. (Last year, Snipes was among those to participate in EW’s oral history of Blade.)

For Ali, this will mark the two-time Oscar winner’s second foray into the Marvel world after having previously made a memorable villainous turn in the first season of Luke Cage. Also, coincidentally, he is coming off starring in the third season of True Detective, in which he was partnered with Stephen Dorff, one of the stars of the original Blade.

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