Mahershala Ali talks Vector in an exclusive Alita: Battle Angel featurette

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Earlier this year audiences finally got to see the long-gestating film adaptation of ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL, a passion project producer James Cameron had been working on for years, with Robert Rodriguez taking on directing duties. The world of the manga series created by Yukito Kishiro was vividly brought to life with groundbreaking visual effects, and at the center of it was our leading, android ass-kicking hero, Alita (Rosa Salazar). But no hero is complete without a villain to challenge them, and in Alita’s case she's going up against a big-wig known as Vector, the mastermind behind the popular sport MotorBall, and in a new exclusive featurette you can learn more about this shady character from the man who brought him to life – Oscar winner Mahershala Ali.

[SEE MORE]

The video features Ali discussing Vector’s background, talking about his early days as a young scrapper with nothing, who used his wits and drive to work his way to the top of the food chain in Iron City. “Vector likes control. He’s not one who appreciates a wild card,” Ali says. “He needs things to go exactly as planned, and Alita is too much of a wild card for him.”

“Vector is someone who has ties to everyone in this story,” Salazar says. “So you need someone like Mahershala to have that commanding presence – that ability that you can believe that this guy is puppeteering everything.”

[SEE MORE]

Here's the synopsis:

From visionary filmmakers James Cameron (AVATAR) and Robert Rodriguez (SIN CITY), comes ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL, an epic adventure of hope and empowerment. When Alita (Rosa Salazar) awakens with no memory of who she is in a future world she does not recognize, she is taken in by Ido (Christoph Waltz), a compassionate doctor who realizes that somewhere in this abandoned cyborg shell is the heart and soul of a young woman with an extraordinary past. As Alita learns to navigate her new life and the treacherous streets of Iron City, Ido tries to shield her from her mysterious history while her street-smart new friend Hugo (Keean Johnson) offers instead to help trigger her memories. But it is only when the deadly and corrupt forces that run the city come after Alita that she discovers a clue to her past – she has unique fighting abilities that those in power will stop at nothing to control. If she can stay out of their grasp, she could be the key to saving her friends, her family and the world she’s grown to love.

ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL is available to buy on Digital Tuesday, July 9, and then available on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray July 23, which you can pre-order here!