Delroy Lindo revealed that his character in Marvel’s Blade movie was meant to be the leader of a Black community, similar to Marcus Garvey. Like his role in Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, the character had built and led a strong, self-made community.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Lindo says that when Marvel first approached him, they seemed very open to his ideas. He had exciting talks with the producers, writer, and director, and felt the character was shaping up to be something powerful and meaningful. However, Lindo said that, for some reason, things changed and the project didn’t move forward as planned. He said it “went off the rails,” without explaining why.
Lindo said, “When Marvel came to me, they seemed to be really interested in my input.” Lindo added, “And in the various conversations I had with producers, the writer, the director at the time, it was all leading into being very inclusive. It was really exciting conceptually, but it was also exciting in terms of the character that was going to form. And then, for whatever reason, it just went off the rails.”
Lindo didn’t say exactly which character he was going to play, but he hinted that the role had a “Marcus Garvey-like” quality to it.
As of now, the production of Blade is on hold. We recently reported that Marvel President Kevin Feige and Mahershala Ali had finalized the script, penned by Michael Green and Eric Pearson. Even so, Disney has not listed the movie in its schedule until 2028.
In the film, Ali plays the role of Eric Brooks / Blade, with Lindo in an undisclosed role, John West Jr. as DEE, and co-stars Mia Goth and Milan Ray. It has been reported that Goth is rumored to play Dracula’s daughter, Lilith Drake.
Blade was announced at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con, but it has had many problems. The movie changed directors several times, including Bassam Tariq and Yann Demange. The script was also rewritten many times. It was supposed to come out on November 7, 2025, but Disney removed it from the schedule, and it may not release this year.
We can hopefully expect Marvel to share an update on the Blade movie soon.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
