The “Jurassic World Rebirth” trio of Mahershala Ali, Jonathan Bailey and Scarlett Johansson assembled for Vogue to answer questions for its “Off the Cuff” video series. When Bailey was asked to name every MCU movie the other two actors had been in, Ali quickly removed himself from the question.
“Leave me out of it,” Ali laughed. “That’s just a Scarlett question.”
“Well, there’s one that we’re very excited about,” Bailey joked.
You can watch the interview segment below:
The actors all hilariously evaded the elephant in the room, one that’s followed Ali throughout this entire press tour for “Jurassic World Rebirth.” Back in 2019, Kevin Feige brought the actor out at Comic-Con to announce that he would be starring in an MCU adaptation of “Blade.” Six years and a slew of departing directors, writers and cast members later, “Blade” seems no closer to releasing than it did in Hall H.
Ali’s inclusion in the question isn’t entirely unwarranted, as the actor has appeared in one MCU film to date. In the post-credits scene of 2021’s “Eternals,” Ali lends his voice to an incredibly brief cameo, teasing a storyline between Blade and Kit Harington’s Dane Whitman (a.k.a. The Black Knight) that fans probably shouldn’t hold their breath for.
Unfortunately, this has Ali’s Blade tied for MCU appearances with Wesley Snipes’ portrayal of the same character — and Snipes appears far more in “Deadpool & Wolverine” than Ali does in “Eternals.”
Though Vogue only asked the trio to name Ali’s MCU film, the actor appeared in the first season of “Luke Cage” as Cornell “Cottonmouth” Stokes. He also did voice work in the non-MCU “Spider-Verse” series as Aaron Davis/The Prowler.
Still, it feels like Vogue was twisting the knife a bit with that question. Johansson was, too.
“That was a lot,” Johansson joked after they finished going through her MCU films. “And you, Mahershala? What about you?” Ali ignored the playful pestering.
A founding Avenger, Johansson carries an extensive MCU resume — one that Ali and Bailey struggled to identify.
“‘Black Widow’ and the ‘Avengers’ stuff,” Ali tried to answer.
“That doesn’t count,” Johansson replied. “You can’t say it like that. You have to name every single one by name.”
Bailey then tried his hand, venturing guesses like “Captain America 1 and 2,” “Avengers 1 to 5” and “Black Widow 1.” It should be noted that Johansson did not appear in the first “Captain America” film, and the fifth “Avengers” movie has not completed filming.
(It will still come out before “Blade,” though.)
“Jurassic World Rebirth” is now in theaters.
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