The two-time Academy Award-winning actor Mahershala Ali lost sleep over recording Blade's voice cameo for Eternals' second post-credits scene.

Mahershala Ali lost sleep over Blade's cameo during Eternals' post-credits scene. The two-time Academy Award-winning actor for his supporting roles in 2016's Moonlight and 2018's Green Book made his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut as the vampire hunter with a voice cameo during Eternals' second post-credits scene. However, it has been known that Ali would be portraying Blade in the MCU since a solo movie was announced by Kevin Feige at San Diego Comic-Com in 2019.

Eternals' second post-credits scene teases Dane Whitman's (Kit Harington) rise to Black Knight status just as his comic book destiny demands. As he opens an old chest inherited from his ancestors that contains the legendary Ebony Blade, an unseen voice questions him, "Sure you're ready for that Mr. Whitman?" before immediately cutting to black. While some fans speculated the off-screen voice was that of Jeffrey Wright's Watcher from What If...?, Eternals director Chloé Zhao confirmed that it belonged to the MCU's Blade actor, and Mahershala Ali soon opened up about recording the voice cameo.

During a recent appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Ali continued to discuss Blade's surprising cameo during Eternals' post-credits scene. The actor admits that he lost "a lot of sleep" over the cameo since he hasn't actually started filming the Blade movie yet. Therefore, he hasn't had the time to work out the character's voice, which he always struggles with on the first day. Read what Ali had to say below:

You lose a lot of sleep over it. Like, I was losing a lot of sleep over this line, because ideally, you want to be talking once you are filming. 100% of the time, my first day on any set, on any job, I hate it, I hate how I sound. I don’t believe myself. You’re trying to get comfortable in the character, so to have to talk before you’re even actually filming was challenging. But I’m grateful for it, because it made it feel real, it’s like ‘OK, now we’re going.’

Since Eternals' first post-credits surprise was effectively spoiled after the film's world premiere in Los Angeles by a reporter who tweeted out that Harry Styles appears as Thanos' brother Eros, Ali's cameo as Blade actually turned out to be the bigger surprise the two scenes had to offer. Even though he only delivered one line via voiceover, it still effectively incorporated Ali's character into the MCU and managed to stir up excitement for the upcoming Blade movie.

The MCU's Blade hails from Mogul Mowgli director Bassam Tariq and Watchmen writer Stacy Osei-Kuffour. The cast recently started to expand with the casting of Da 5 Bloods star Delroy Lindo, though the movie doesn't yet have an official release date or production schedule. Blade will act as the titular dhampir's introduction to the MCU after Eternals, though the character arguably needs no introduction given the trilogy of movies starring Wesley Snipes. This presents a similar challenge for Blade that the MCU was faced with when introducing Tom Holland as Spider-Man. If anyone can handle this challenge, it's certainly a talented actor like Ali.

Next: How Moon Knight Can Introduce Mahershala Ali's Blade For MCU Phase 5

Source: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert