mahershala ali in as mcu’s new blade

Before a Black Panther movie was even a glimmer in Kevin Feige’s mind, we had the mostly-human, partial vampire, Blade who was made mainstream by Wesley Snipes in the film trilogy of the late ‘90s, early ‘00s. Leather outfits, badass combat weapons, and the general awesomeness of just being a Black superhero, Blade was kinda the man. And while it seemed like the Marvel Cinematic Universe was going to pass the torch to another buffet of blue-eyed Chris’s, Marvel Studios’ chief, apparently, has something else in-store, as he announced at San Diego Comic-Con this weekend.

Donning a Blade baseball cap, Feige winded down his massive MCUgtimeline and upcoming projects announcement by informing the audience that not only was the franchise back but it also has a new star in Academy-Award winner Mahershala Ali.

Check out the announcement, below:

Just announced in Hall H at #SDCC, Marvel Studios’ BLADE with Mahershala Ali. pic.twitter.com/JPcrSqSerW

— Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) July 21, 2019

Mahershala Ali is officially starring in Marvel’s “Blade” reboot #SDCC https://t.co/8tR4FaKGpR pic.twitter.com/2ANC8ltjMk

— Variety (@Variety) July 21, 2019