Kevin Feige Has No Excuses for Blade as Jurassic World Wraps Up Filming With Mahershala Ali

The New York Times has named actor Mahershala Ali among the 25 greatest actors of the 21st century in 2020. He is known to be one of the most influential people in the world and has proven himself over the years by being a part of projects including Crossing Jordan, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, House of Cards, Moonlight, and more. Ali was highly appreciated and rose to wider prominence with his supporting role in The Hunger Games film series.

Mahershala Ali is a part of the upcoming science fiction action film Jurassic World Rebirth, directed by Gareth Edwards. It’s going to be the seventh movie in the Jurassic Park franchise and the fourth in the Jurassic World series. The producer of the movie has shared a positive and exciting update about the movie, which might not be as exciting for Marvel President Kevin Feige.

Jurassic World Rebirth starring Mahershala Ali Wraps Up Filming

Directed by Gareth Edwards from a screenplay by Davie Koepp, Jurassic World Rebirth stars a new ensemble cast including Mahershala Ali, Jonathan Bailey, Scarlett Johansson, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Rupert Friend, and more. The story of the upcoming movie is set five years after the events of Jurassic World Dominion and will see dinosaurs having to live in isolated equatorial environments after they fail to adjust to the planet’s climate.

The movie is also going to see a team of mercenaries and scientists hunting to acquire genetic material to make a life-saving drug for humans. Frank Marshall, producer of the movie, took to his social media to share an exciting update about the movie, as he wrote,

That’s a wrap.

He shared the exciting news, featuring a hat with Jurassic World engraved on it in a unique font. Mahershala Ali plays Duncan Kincaid in the movie, who is Scarlett Johansson’s Zora Bennett’s team leader. In an interview with ComicBook.com, Johansson shared,

The script is so incredible. David Koepp wrote it. He returned after like 30 years to write the script. He is so passionate about it, which is so awesome.

Talking about joining the franchise, the actress shared that it was one of the first movies she saw in the theater and described it as life-changing. The Marvel actress mentioned that she couldn’t express how excited she was to be a part of the Jurassic Park franchise.

During the conversation, she noted that she had been trying to join the franchise for over 10 years. She also mentioned that now she not only gets to be a part of it, but also leads the movie, which is unbelievable to her. There has not been much information provided for other characters in the movie, but everyone seems excited about the upcoming movie.

Did Kevin Feige find his Blade director in Jeymes Samuel?

According to reports by World of Reel, Marvel Studio executives are impressed by Jeymes Samuel’s vision for the highly awaited Blade starring Mahershala Ali in the titular character. Samuel is the third filmmaker, whose name has been attached to the project after Bassim Tariq and Yann Demange.

After years of delay, reports of Blade being scrapped started to surface online; however, it was clarified that the movie remains a major priority for the studios, especially Kevin Feige. In July, he shared during Black Tree TV interview,

For the last two years as we’ve been trying to crack that movie, the most important thing for us is not rushing it and making sure we are making the ride ‘Blade’ movie. There were some great Blade movies years ago and they were all R-rated. So, I think that’s like Deadpool, inherent with the character of Blade.

Mahershala Ali has been attached to Blade since its initial announcement in 2019 and has expressed his optimism towards the movie, but the project seemed to have come to a halt. Mia Goth, who is also attached to the project, shared with Deadline that the studios care about the story they’ll be showcasing on-screen, adding that they want to make a great movie.

With Mahershala Ali’s Jurassic World Rebirth wrapping up, it’s filming in just 106 days, which puts a lot of pressure on Marvel President Kevin Feige to get the project moving as it’s been long. At one point, fans were convinced that the project would be scrapped due to delays, but then the executives once again assured the fans that the project was going to happen.

Jurassic World Rebirth is scheduled for release on July 2, 2025.