Mahershala Ali Explores Faith and Film in New Thriller

Actor Mahershala Ali is discussing his latest film Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, where he plays a devout Muslim father and assassin, while also addressing his acting journey and the stalled Marvel Studios project Blade. The conversations were reported by NPR, CBC Arts and CNN in October 2026.

Ali told CBC Arts that faith remains central to how he approaches characters, including Latif, a man facing grief, violence and moral conflict after losing his wife while caring for his baby daughter.

"I feel like I'm the most spiritual or religious…when I'm working. I think that there's something in the choices that we make in this work — that is its own form of preaching. You can speak to and advocate for humanity through your choices as an actor," Ali said.

Ali previously considered becoming a preacher in the early 2000s before continuing his acting career, which later included Oscar-winning performances in Moonlight and Green Book, according to CBC Arts.

"I felt like he was definitely a believer. And as a result, though, I think it informs his disappointment in some ways. I think he was a strong believer, but I feel like that loss [of his wife] comes as such a shock.

The ground beneath him sort of disappears. And as a result, I think he has a lot of tough questions for God. There's a lot of anger and resentment," Ali said.

Ali described Latif as a character who struggles with the relationship between faith and violent actions, as he tries to leave his criminal past behind while protecting his child.

"He has to meet violence with violence in order to create some sort of aspect of peace for people. And so, that’s essentially how I kind of view it and look at it," Ali said.

CNN reported that Ali has moved on from Marvel Studios' Blade reboot after the project faced delays. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige addressed the situation and expressed regret over the film's development.

"Marvel represents the world outside your window. I’ve always said it, before DEI and woke became a thing and after DEI and woke became a thing — are we after? I don’t think so," Feige said, according to CNN.

Ali agreed with Feige's assessment of the difficulties surrounding Blade after the actor had relocated his family to Atlanta for production preparations and trained extensively for the role, according to CNN.

"He should feel that way," Ali said.

CNN also reported that some Marvel fans have questioned the status of projects featuring Black protagonists, including Wonder Man and Armor Wars. Fans and commentators have raised concerns about how Black-led stories are handled within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

"All the Black-led shows seem to have a harder road to get either made or publicized or treated in the same fashion as other properties," Carl Waldron said, according to CNN.

Kira Brown, who runs Room Full of Blerds, criticized what she viewed as inconsistent treatment of Black superhero stories. She highlighted Wonder Man as a project that felt more grounded in Black family and community experiences.

"I think that the people that have the most control over what they want to put out are either afraid and/or they do not know how to handle characters of color," Brown said.

Brown said the cancellation of Wonder Man was particularly disappointing because of the series' approach to its central character and themes.

"A slap in the face," Brown said.

Brown also argued that some previous Marvel attempts at representation lacked deeper exploration of social issues and character backgrounds.

"Here’s a Black face on the screen. Here’s kind of a Black story, and we’ll sprinkle some Wakandans in it too, just to spice things up for you," Brown said.

CNN reported that Marvel's previous Black-led successes included Black Panther, which became a major box office success, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which earned more than $859 million worldwide and brought Angela Bassett the MCU's first acting Oscar nomination.

"gigantic loser and failure that we didn’t get off the ground with Mahershala," Feige said, according to CNN.

Marvel declined to comment on the concerns raised by fans, according to CNN.