Mahershala Ali's Best Blade Replacement After MCU Exit Achieves Rare Rotten Tomatoes Score

Published Sep 13, 2026, 9:10 PM EDT

My career in journalism got kicked off after eight years as an active duty Naval Aviator, starting with covering college sports for Inside Lacrosse and SB Nation. After joining the staff at USA Today's For The Win, I started dabbling in pop culture coverage and fell in love with it. I'm happy to talk movies and television any time, and I'm usually listening to music (or an audiobook) in my free time. 

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Mahershala Ali is back on the big screen, and seemingly better than ever.

The two-time Grammy winner's latest film, Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, comes out October 9, and expectations are starting to soar through the roof. The movie made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on Saturday night, and so far, the reviews for Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother are raving.

In the action drama film, Ali plays Latif, a devoutly religious hitman who has to balance his relationship with Islam with his secret career and his life as a newly single father following the death of his wife. There are big fighting set pieces, but also true moments of emotion as Latif wrestles with his faith and what actions he feels he has to take to provide for his family.

It debuted on Rotten Tomatoes with a perfect 100% from critics, based on 17 reviews. Praise for both Ali and director Bassam Tariq (Mogul Mowgli) is found throughout the reviews, as well as the film's handling of topics like grief.

The first trailer, which debuted back in late July, got the attention of fans as Ali wields a sword on his mission to track down breast milk for his infant after his wife's death. The dream of seeing Ali take on a different sword-wielder died in late July of this year after the Moonlight actor confirmed that the MCU reboot of Blade would no longer be moving forward with him attached to the project. Blade had been announced at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con, but numerous delays and issues led to its eventual shelving, despite the actor voicing the character in the post-credit scene of 2021's Eternals.

Tariq had initially been attached to direct the MCU Blade movie, until departing the project in 2020 after early delays. Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother is the movie Ali and Tariq never got to collaborate on.

Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother is Ali's first project since 2025's Jurassic World: Rebirth, and it's the highest-rated film of his career so far. Ali has made some incredibly well-reviewed movies over the years, with Moonlight earning a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, followed by Into the Spider-Verse (97%), Between the World and Me (95%), and Hidden Figures(93%), all hitting above the 90% threshold.

Giancarlo Esposito (By Any Means), Tramell Tillman (Severance), John Cho (Murderbot), and Laith Nakli (12 Strong) co-star alongside Ali, with the up-and-coming actress Adia garnering a lot of praise for her role.

Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother is in theaters nationwide on October 9, with a limited release on September 25.