Marvel Midnight Sons: is Mephisto the villain after Ghost Rider?

The latest update from industry insider Daniel Richtman suggests that Marvel Studios' Midnight Sons crossover is still the plan. That update also says Sacha Baron Cohen will return as Mephisto, and I think he'll probably end up as the villain of that film. The open question is what happens to Blade now that Mahershala Ali has stepped away from the role.

We've heard for a long time that Phase 7, alongside the start of the Mutant Saga, would explore the cosmic and supernatural sides of the universe among its other story elements. The question of where Blade fits when the crossover finally happens hangs over all of it.

Why Mahershala Ali's Blade exit put Midnight Sons in doubt

Later reports suggested that because the Blade movie couldn't get off the ground, Marvel was considering a Midnight Sons crossover instead. When Josh Horowitz asked Oscar Isaac about it directly, Isaac acknowledged that they had realized a Midnight Sons project, if it happened at all, would be a much more serious one in tone. He said they wanted to take enough time to do it properly.

Since then, and especially recently, Mahershala Ali has acknowledged in at least two interviews that he's no longer interested in playing Blade and has stepped away from the role. That called the whole Midnight Sons crossover into question, because he was supposed to be one of its central characters. But nobody should jump to conclusions too quickly, because the newest insider update points the other way.

Daniel Richtman says Ghost Rider shoots in 2027, with Midnight Sons to follow

The latest update comes from industry insider Daniel Richtman. He has been a mainstay of Marvel news for nearly a decade, and he also shares a fair amount of exclusive information on Twitter. According to his recent update, Ghost Rider will start shooting in 2027. We had assumed it would be released in 2028.

Richtman also says that, after being set up at the end of Ironheart, Sacha Baron Cohen will return as Mephisto in the MCU's future. On top of that, his update says Marvel Studios will make the Midnight Sons movie after Ghost Rider.

Ryan Gosling and Oscar Isaac could carry a Midnight Sons cast

None of this is very surprising to me. Once Marvel locked in Ryan Gosling as Ghost Rider, pairing him with Oscar Isaac means tickets are going to sell at the box office no matter who else is in the cast. And if Ghost Rider turns out to be a great movie, it will prove that Marvel can pull this off successfully.

As for the rest of the lineup, we roughly know who it will be: Elsa Bloodstone, Man-Thing and Werewolf by Night, who was recently referenced in an episode of Vision Quest. These aren't the kind of characters who normally headline a crossover film. But remember that Red Guardian and Ghost were part of Thunderbolts.

Gael García Bernal and Laura Donnelly, who play Werewolf by Night and Elsa Bloodstone, are extremely talented performers. Add a star at Gosling's level to that group and the movie could be a big hit.

Is Mephisto the Midnight Sons villain?

On top of all that, Sacha Baron Cohen is coming back as Mephisto, which the report now presents as set. My guess is that he'll most likely be the villain of the Midnight Sons film.

The roster of who is staying keeps growing. But the absence of one major character raises an obvious question: will Marvel move on from Mahershala Ali and cast someone new? Will they bring in another actor to play Blade? I think that would be deeply disrespectful to Mahershala Ali.

Should Marvel recast Blade? I think the door may still be open

I had a realization the other day that nothing is ever truly finished. Mahershala Ali may be justifiably frustrated that Marvel Studios couldn't make this work despite billions of dollars invested. But we don't know what happened behind the scenes, and they could have done whatever they wanted.

What I'll say is this: even if he has stepped away for now, if Marvel lands a great script for Midnight Sons, gets all the actors together and moves forward, maybe the opportunity is still there. You have to assume some line of communication between them is still open, and until they cast someone new as Blade, that door may remain open.

I'll stop there, because I feel like I'm sounding like the DC fans who kept hoping the Snyderverse would return even after James Gunn's films had started, which isn't going to happen. This isn't the same situation, though. We'll see what happens.

Doctor Strange could fill the gap in Midnight Sons

With that said, I think that if Marvel doesn't have Blade, the way forward is not to recast. Instead, it could either use Doctor Strange 3 as the lead in to this film, or put Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange in as a co lead alongside the others.

That would be a natural addition to the Midnight Sons, a team that would explore the supernatural side of the universe. Marvel hasn't had the chance to do that over the past decade, because the main focus was always the multiverse. In my view, bringing in Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange as a legacy character is still the best option.

The supernatural side is Marvel's chance to try horror

I think that at a time when Marvel Studios is trying to rebuild itself, and has a chance to reset to a single timeline, the supernatural side of the MCU through the Midnight Sons offers a lot of potential. It's a way to fix the mistakes of the last few years and head in new and interesting directions.

That's especially true for horror and other genre films that don't fit the regular MCU. We've seen that with Clayface, although I don't think Marvel Studios would ever make something that bold. Still, there are many more kinds of movies left to explore. The MCU just has to tap into them, and this could be the way to do it.

I still want a Blade movie

Ultimately, I want Blade in the MCU. Whether it's Mahershala Ali, whether they can't bring him back, or whether he isn't in the first Midnight Sons film, I still think Marvel absolutely has to make a Blade movie, with or without Ali.

But you do have to ask: if they couldn't make it work the first time with an Oscar winning actor, who else are they going to do it with? How are they going to get it done now? What will be different this time? And imagine if he had stayed and we got Ali, Gosling and Isaac leading the Midnight Sons.

With or without Blade, all of this together could make for a great movie and a deeper look at the supernatural side of the MCU. That's the part of the MCU I wish Marvel would spend more time on, because it still hasn't explored it properly after being so busy with the multiverse for so long.