Rumor: Mahershala Ali’s Blade to Appear in ‘Werewolf By Night’

It’s been a few years now since Kevin Feige announced that Mahershala Ali would be joining the MCU in their upcoming reboot of Blade. While the project is still in development, with production to start this summer, we got our first small piece of Blade in last year’s Eternals post-credit scene. Now, we may get his first appearance sooner than we thought.

According to The Cosmic Circus, they are hearing that Blade will make an appearance in the upcoming Disney+ Marvel Studios Halloween special, tentatively titled Werewolf By Night. While the information has yet to be confirmed, the site has had a good track record on scoops like this in the past, so it does hold some merit.

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Blade and Werewolf By Night have appeared together in the comics together twice, the characters share a number of key elements that would explain Blade’s presence. They both also have a connection to the character Dracula, who some speculate will play a pivotal role in Blade.

For those unfamiliar with the character, originally known as Jack Russell, he inherited the ability to transform into a werewolf from his father who was also a warlock. When he moonlights as the creature, as expected, he’s granted superhuman strength and stamina.

Marvel recently revived the character in April 2020 with Werewolf by Night #1, a miniseries starring Jake Gomez, created by the writing team consisting of Black Eyed Peas‘ Taboo, Benjamin Jackendoff and Scot Eaton. In this version, Jake, aka. Red Wolf, is a member of the Hopi Native American tribe whose family has been cursed with lycanthropy. Jake Gomez has the same transformation abilities like Jack Russell.

Werewolf By Night is probably most known for his frequent association with Moon Knight, who is set to have his own Disney+ series starring Oscar Isaac as the titular character. There are confirmed reports that Werewolf By Night will show up in the upcoming series debuting later this month.

The upcoming special will star Gael Garcia Bernal (Coco) will star as the titular Werewolf, who goes by Jack Russell by day. Laura Donnelly (The Nevers) will co-star. Famed composer Michael Giacchino (The Batman, Spider-Man: No Way Home) will direct.