WARNING: This Article May Contain Spoilers
I actually never thought I would be writing another article about an actor playing Blade, as I always thought Wesley Snipes would be it. However, it seems that Blade is being brought into the MCU along with many other characters and maybe Wesley is a little too old now. I’ll say this much from the poster Mahershala looks the role – that definitely cannot be denied!
Moonlight
A lot of people would’ve heard of this film due to the Oscars controversy involving it and La La Land. I feel like this is a reminder that just because you’re a drug dealer – you aren’t a bad person. The film is actually based around the character of Chiron and his coming of age, including the realisation that he may be gay and in love with his best friend. Mahershala’s character of Juan is just a bit part player in the film but it is clear to see when he discovers that it is his people giving Chiron’s mum the drugs she gets high on, that he feels more responsible for Chiron as a child than he did when he helped him out on their first meeting. I point out ‘as a child’ because we don’t see Juan once Chiron grows up and becomes a teenager/adult.
The Place Beyond the Pines
This is another film where Mahershala plays an ancillary character but possibly has more influence on the plot than in Moonlight. His character Kofi is both the love rival to Ryan Gosling’s Luke and the surrogate father figure to Luke’s son Jason. We meet him about 10/15 minutes into the film very briefly when taking baby Jason to be baptised but we don’t see him again until 30 minutes in. I actually feel a little bit sorry for his character because of the speed Romina starts sleeping with Luke again. Following Luke’s death I felt like this film was going to be telling two separate stories and we wouldn’t see Mahershala again but in the end he becomes victim to the police as well because of Luke buying baby Jason’s stuff with stolen money.
Green Book
I’ll be honest, I’ve been waiting to watch this film for a long time but unfortunately never had the chance. What I didn’t know however, is that this is actually based on a true story – and that Mahershala plays pianist Don Shirley. This is the story of his tour of the Deep South and I guess more importantly of how Tony came to terms with his personal ideas of race thanks to being his driver. Can I just say how good a match Mahershala is for Shirley? He is almost the spitting image…almost. Unfortunately, it seems, and this is stated by sources that knew Shirley, the behaviour and character portrayed by Ali is nothing like the real man. The title of the film is taken from the genuine item, the Negro-Motorist Green Book, which I had absolutely no idea until now that it even existed. I love the fact that at no point does Mahershala actually play the piano but he learnt how to sit correctly and look as if he is playing so that it looked convincing – so much so this film earned him the Best Supporting Actor award at the Oscars.
Honorary Mentions
I’ll be honest, I was spoilt for choice on films to cover for this article. Especially as I own 3 of his films – Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part One, Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part Two and Alita: Battle Angel – all three of them are AMAZING films! Blade also won’t be the first time he’s featured in a film as a Marvel character as he is the voice of Myles Morales’ Uncle Aaron. I also didn’t realise that he was in Alphas, a stand-alone series about regular people with powers, slightly better than Heroes which lasted much longer.
