Mahershala Ali tackles Kevin Feige and Marvel after Blade failure

The Moonlight and Green Book actor still doesn’t understand why Marvel never managed to launch his film.

Mahershala Ali still doesn’t understand what happened to Blade. And he’s not the only one.

Asked by GQ about the reasons which prevented the Marvel film from seeing the light of day, the double Oscar winner referred the question directly to Kevin Feige, the boss of Marvel Studio:

“That’s a question for Kevin Feige. They had, as you say, a two-time Oscar winner under contract and they have billions of dollars. That’s a question for them. I still don’t know why it didn’t happen…“

Visibly annoyed, Mahershala Ali adds, in reference to Feige’s recent statements, a small, well-felt jab:

“Kevin said it was the biggest failure of his career and I agree!“

Announced in July 2019, Blade has continued to accumulate disappointments. In July 2025, Kevin Feige explained that the endless delays of Blade were notably linked to Marvel’s period of “over-expansion”, when the multiplication of Disney+ content had, according to him, put quantity before quality. By reevaluating its way of developing its projects, Marvel then left several films, including Bladeget bogged down.

For Mahershala Ali, this story is also part of a less linear career than he imagined after his two Oscars for Moonlight And Green Book. He thought these awards would open the doors to Hollywood. However, he still found himself having to fight to land roles, notably that of True Detective season 3.

The actor, however, assures that he does not feel “neither bitterness nor disappointment”. Rather, he draws a lesson from it: “No one is going to come and save you. You have to build your own boat.”