Marvel’s Blade Reboot Just Added A Fan-Favorite Actor To Its Cast
After months of silence since Mahershala Ali was cast as the heroic half-vampire in the upcoming Blade reboot, it looks like Marvel Studios is finally making progress.
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After months of silence since Mahershala Ali was cast as the heroic half-vampire in the upcoming Blade reboot, it looks like Marvel Studios is finally gearing up for its ambitious project. After Ali’s surprising debut as Blade in the post-credit scene of the recently released Eternals, there has been another major development for the reboot–the fan-favorite actor Delroy Lindo has been added to the cast of Blade!
As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Delroy Lindo has been in talks with Marvel Studios and is currently going through the final negotiations to join the Blade reboot. The actor was recently seen in the western drama The Harder They Fall, where he played the real-life character of Marshall Bass Reeves, the first black deputy U.S. Marshal west of the Mississippi. Lindo is best known for his key roles in films like Get Shorty, Gone in 60 Seconds, The Cider House Rules, as well as series like The Chicago Code and The Good Fight. He also received universal acclaim for his iconic performance as a Vietnam War veteran in Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods and won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor as well as the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor.
Marvel’s upcoming Blade reboot has been a topic of major debate amongst MCU fans. Many have been divided over cheering Mahershala Ali’s casting as the vampire-human hybrid and expressing their disappointment over the studio’s decision to not allow Wesley Snipes, who starred in the original Blade trilogy from 1998-2004, make a comeback as the vampire hunter. On the other hand, Snipes has been nothing but openly supportive of Marvel’s decision and has even said that Mahershala Ali is going to “do great” as the new Blade. Hopefully, MCU fans’ doubts about the upcoming Blade reboot will be somewhat allayed by the news of the talented Delroy Lindo joining its cast.
Apart from the confirmation that Lindo is now a part of Marvel’s Blade reboot, there is no further information on what character the actor will be seen playing or whether he will be someone close to Mahershala Ali’s titular character. In fact, Ali is yet to make his proper MCU debut as all the post-credits scene in Eternals confirmed was that Blade exists in the prime timeline. In the scene, Kit Harington’s Dane Whitman opens a morbid-looking box that reads “Death is my reward” and looks upon a dark sword while hesitating to pick it up. Just then, a mysterious person, who is off-camera (the iconic voice of Mahershala Ali i.e., the new Blade) questions if Kit Harrington’s character is really ready to carry out his plan to get the Eternal Sersei back from the Celestial, Arishiem.
The Blade reboot is set to be directed by Bassam Tariq, best known for helming 2020’s acclaimed rap drama, Mogul Mowgli. Blade will be based on a script by Stacey Osei-Kuffour, who received a Writers Guild Award for penning the seventh episode, An Almost Religious Awe, of HBO’s renowned series, Watchmen. For now, apart from Delroy Lindo, Mahershala Ali is the only confirmed cast member. But seeing the usual tradition of Marvel characters appearing in each other’s films, we can expect to see some familiar and some new in the Blade reboot. Many are hopeful it may include Jared Leto’s Morbius.
The Blade reboot will be a part of MCU Phase V and will reportedly begin production by the end of summer in 2022.
