Mahershala Ali will be the third actor to portray Eric Brooks, better known as Daywalker vampire Blade, when Marvel reboots the character into the MCU in the next couple of years. Wesley Snipes first brought Blade to life in a trilogy of movies which ended with Blade Trinity in 2004, and then the role was taken over in 2006 by Kirk Jones, aka hip hop star Sticky Fingaz, in Blade: The Series, a live action TV show that ran for 13 episdoes on Spike TV. While the series was a direct continuation of the movies, created and written by David S Goyer, it didn't get the greatest of critical receptions although it did become one of the most watched shows on the channel at the time. Now with Blade getting a third run out, Sticky has been giving some advice to his successor.

"Big up to the new Blade. I know he's going to do an incredible job," Sticky Fingaz told ComicBook.com. "He's a great actor. It's a lot of physical requirements and he'll probably live up to the task. So blessings to him and pick up to him. And I give him the same respect that Wesley gave me.

"Man, just do your thing, man. Just, be honest. Hit the thing, just like they say with 2Pac. Say he got stuck in the road juice, he left in set, he was still Bishop. When I was doing Blade, I was transfixed. I was one of my favorite actors, Giovanni Ribisi. He's a character actor, and he's on set even at lunchtime, he's still in character. I'm a ninja, so I'm still Blade in real life. So yeah, just engulf it and just go for it and make it come to life, man."

Ali hasn't just had good words from one previous Blade but two, as Wesley Snipes also offered his encouragement to the latest star to take on the character. "To all the DAYWALKERS losing their minds right now, chillaaxx. Although the news comes as a surprise, it's ALL GOOD. Such is the 'business' of 'entertainment!' Much peace to the MCU crew - always a fan," Snipes previously said. "Honor and respect to the grandmaster Stan. Congratulations and Salaam to Mahershala Ali, a beautiful and talented artist whose expressions I look forward to experiencing for many years to come. Inshallah, we will someday work together. Most importantly to my loyal fans, the incredible outpouring of love is overwhelming. I am grateful for the never-ending support. So, 'nah fret nah worry, it's not de end of de story.' Welcome to the Daywalker Klique."

Marvel have yet to announce when exactly Blade will return to screens in this new iteration, and until last week it was assumed that the film would be taking one of the slots in 2023 that were being held by Disney as placeholders for Marvel movies. However, in their recent schedule shuffle those untitled movies were removed from the slate as other movies shifted into their place. It is now likely that we will not be seeing Mahershala Ali taking on the role until 2024. This news arrives from ComicBook.com.