Actor Aaron Pierre will co-star with Mahershala Ali in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s new version of Blade, according to Deadline.
Pierre previously starred in Krypton, Old and The Underground Railroad. It’s unclear what character he will be playing in Blade, Deadline reported.
Ali is set to portray the titular Black vampire hunter, who himself is half human, half vampire. The character was previously played by Wesley Snipes in three Blade movies released during the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Producer Kevin Feige announced that Marvel would be doing another Blade movie starring Ali at San Diego Comic Con in July 2019.
Veteran actor Delroy Lindo (Da 5 Bloods, The Harder They Fall) is also set to star in the film, which will be directed by Bassam Tariq (Mogul Mowgli), according to Deadline. Playwright Stacy Osei-Kuffour wrote the script for the MCU version of Blade along with Feige, the trade mag reported.
In November, Snipes tipped his hat to Ali playing the iconic comic book character that Snipes previously popularized on the silver screen.
“He will do great,” the White Men Can’t Jump actor tweeted late last year.
Ali told The Breakfast Club in December that he was “humbled and so encouraged” to receive Snipes’ blessing.
“He didn’t have to say that,” the 48-year-old Oscar winner said of Snipes. “So, for him to come out and say that [as] somebody I look up to so much, I sincerely appreciated that. … So, thank you, brother.”
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