Mahershala Ali Wields a Sword as a Holy Hitman in Bassam Tariq's New Thriller

Mahershala Ali plays a devout Muslim contract killer in Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, the Houston-set thriller from writer-director Bassam Tariq that arrives after his departure from Marvel's stalled Blade reboot.

Ali's character, Latif, fashions himself a righteous killer. He dispenses victims he believes have offended God, justifying his violence as divine retribution. In the film, he swings a blade — a choice Tariq ties directly to the character's faith rather than a wink at Ali's scrapped Marvel vampire-hunter role.

Why a sword instead of a gun?

Tariq, speaking in a recent interview in Toronto, explained the weapon as part of Latif's code — a negotiation with his faith.

"You are forced to strike with intention when you use a sword," Tariq said.

That intention sits at the centre of the film's premise: a man who moonlights as a vicious hitman while holding to religious devotion, and who reads his kills as punishment sanctioned by God.

How does this connect to Blade?

Tariq was previously attached to Marvel's Blade reboot, which also had Ali lined up to star, before the project stalled. Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother — rather than the Marvel tentpole — became the film the two actually made together, and the one Tariq says he is happier to have made.

The film is set in Houston and was reviewed by the Guardian upon release, with Tariq promoting it in interviews in Toronto.

For Tariq, the pivot from a franchise reboot to an intimate, faith-inflected crime thriller signals where his priorities now lie: in character-driven stories rather than studio spectacle.