Newly announced Blade star Mahershala Ali paid respects to original actor Wesley Snipes for his portrayal of the Marvel vampire hunter across three theatrical films.
In an Instagram post, Ali shared an official still of Snipes as Blade, tagging the actor in the post while using the crown emoji to hail Snipes as the king. The social media post comes after Snipes issued a statement earlier this week welcoming Ali to the "Daywalker Kliq," referring to Blade's status as a dhampir: someone who is part human, part vampire.
Snipes starred in the original 1998 Blade film adapting the popular Marvel Comics superhero of the same name. Redefining superhero adaptations in cinema years before X-Men and Spider-Man, the success of the first film would lead to sequels released in 2002 and 2004, as well as a television series on Spike in 2006 starring Sticky Fingaz as Blade.
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige officially announced Ali would star in a reboot of Blade at Comic-Con International in San Diego last week.
No director or release date for Marvel Studios' Blade reboot starring Mahershala Ali has been announced at this time.