Mahershala Ali could have played Blade in the reboot that never materialized within Marvel, but in the past he already had a chance to approach the genre by portraying Cornell “Cottonmouth” Stokes in , a TV series released in 2016 and lasting two seasons with Mike Colter in the leading role. The latter recently resurfaced within the dynamics of the MCU thanks to Daredevil: Born Again, anchoring himself once again to the vast universe of superheroes. However the character offered to Mahershala Ali had its hours counted on the small screen, and years after, the showrunner of the TV series has explained why they had to remove him.
Luke Cage and Mahershala Ali’s character death justified today by the showrunner after fan criticism
It seems that, at first, Mahershala Ali had little time to devote to Luke Cage, which is why he was involved as Cottonmouth for only seven episodes, after which he was written out. A choice driven by the actor’s numerous commitments, but not exactly appreciated by fans, as was recently reiterated on X. Showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker shared an interesting backstory about the character’s departure, but he could not make major changes precisely because, above all, the actor had accepted the role only for a limited time. At that point Coker did not want to go back on the word he had given:
I didn’t get it wrong the first time. He accepted the role because it was a limited appearance. It was planned that he would die in episode 7, by design. He shot Luke Cage, Hidden Figures and Moonlight simultaneously. He was delivering a standout performance in Luke Cage and in the Marvel TV series, and the other actors urged me to change my mind, something that would have bound him to a long-term contract (and would have cost him the Oscar for Green Book), but I kept my word with a handshake. That’s why we’re friends to this day. One must always keep one’s word.
The showrunner’s words arrive after a fan’s comment that also brought up the Blade matter: “Marvel blew it with Mahershala Ali twice, it’s madness,” referring also to Luke Cage. At that point Coker stepped in to speak on the matter, clarifying that the death of the character had already been agreed upon during contract negotiations.
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