Mahershala Ali’s 'Blade' Is Dead, But His Forgotten 4-Part Sci-Fi Masterpiece Is Free on Streaming

His breakout role was a sci-fi masterpiece Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali has plenty of experience playing supervillains. He ruled Harlem as the crime lord Cornell “Cottonmouth” Stokes in Luke Cage, was a key part of Miles Morales’ tragic backstory as Prowler in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and has manipulated Mark Grayson as Titan in Invincible. Ali was supposed to get his chance at superhero stardom by bringing Blade to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but he confirmed last month that the film has been scrapped. While Ali may never get to fight vampires, you can still see him play a superhero in a largely forgotten TV series that’s free to stream on Tubi. Ali’s breakout role was on The 4400, which premiered on CBS in 2004. He plays Richard Tyler, a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot who disappeared while serving in the Korean War. Richard then reappears in a ball of light in present-day Washington along with 4,399 missing people who haven’t aged a day. Most shows would have kept that mystery going for longer, but The 4400 provides a decisive answer at the end of its five-episode first season. Turns out, a group of people from the future abducted the 4400 from around the world