Blade: Mahershala Ali made his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut

Last Updated on November 9, 2021

Eternals, the latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is now in theatres (read our review HERE) – and if you’re trying to remain SPOILER-free on that one, you should turn away right now.

In 2019, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige announced that Mahershala Ali had been cast as the MCU’s version of the sword-wielding, vampire-slaying hero Blade and would be getting his own movie. The project has been slowly moving forward since then, with Mogul Mowgli‘s Bassam Tariq signing on to direct the film from a screenplay by Stacy Osei-Kuffour (the Watchmen TV series) and production expected to begin in July of 2022… But since Ali’s casting was announced so far ahead of time, fans have been speculating that Blade would show up in another MCU project before his movie is released. Where would he make his debut? Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness? The Disney+ Moon Knight series?

Now we know. Blade has entered the MCU in one of Eternals‘ two end credits scenes. The catch: we don’t see him, we only hear his voice.

Blade’s voice is heard in the post-credits scene, which also sets up the fact that Dane Whitman (Kit Harington) is going to wield a magical sword called the Ebony Blade and become a hero known as the Black Knight. Here’s how the scene is described on Fandom:

In the very last scene of Eternals, at the end of the closing credits, Dane Whitman is by himself, staring at a case with his family crest on it. Dane has to psych himself up, saying “You can do this, you can do this,” before he opens the case and reveals a sword inside, as an eerie sound briefly erupts from within the case. Dane translates words inscribed on the inside of the case, reading “Death is my reward.” He looks down at the sword, which has some sort of strange, liquid-like movement rippling across it. As he prepares to touch the sword, Dane declares, “I’m sorry, I have to try,” only to be interrupted by the voice of a man, who we don’t see, but who says to Dane, from off-camera, “Sure you’re ready for that, Mr. Whitman?”

Eternals director Chloé Zhao confirmed to Fandom,

That was the voice of one of my favorite superheroes, Mr. Blade himself. Blade, Blade, Blade, yeah!”

So we’ve heard Blade, and he clearly knows something about the sword Dane Whitman has in his possession. When are we going to actually see Blade? We’ll have to keep watching and waiting to find out.

Created as a supporting character by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan, Blade first appeared in Tomb of Dracula No. 10 in 1973, becoming a cult favorite. He is a human-vampire hybrid thanks to his mother being bitten and killed by a blood-sucker during childbirth.

Blade was previously played by Wesley Snipes in a trilogy of films released by New Line Cinema between 1998 and 2004. Kirk “Sticky Fingaz” Jones then took over the role for a TV series that only lasted for one season in 2006. Ali played a different Marvel character, the villain Cottonmouth, on the Netflix series Luke Cage, but that’s not considered to be part of the MCU at this time.