Delroy Lindo has conmfirmed that he is out of Marvel’s Blade, and from the sound of it, he’s just as disappointed as the rest of us.
While promoting his upcoming film Sinners, the veteran actor spoke candidly with Entertainment Weekly about his now-defunct involvement in Marvel Studios’ troubled Blade reboot.
Although he couldn’t reveal who he was supposed to play, Lindo made it clear that the version of Blade he initially signed on for is long gone. He explained:
“When Marvel came to me, they seemed to be really interested in my input. 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 went on to describe a character who could’ve brought a unique ideological and cultural depth to the film.
“There was a Marcus Garvey-esque component to who this man was shaping up to be. I’m not saying that it would’ve been an out-and-out Garvey-ite. Not that, but just in terms of how this man’s philosophy, his ethos, and what was driving him.
“He was a character who had, very similar to Sinners, created a community, a Black community. He was a character who was the head of this community.”
It’s kind of a shame that vision won’t see the light of day, especially when you consider Blade has already gone through multiple directors, script rewrites, and delays.
He also touched on another stalled project, Amazon’s Anansi Boys, based on Neil Gaiman’s novel, and used it to reflect on how uncertain the industry can be:
“Don’t count your chickens, man. It’s a shame. I could be wrong about Anansi Boys. Maybe it’ll be released. This is another reason to knock on wood. Because there are banana peels all over the landscape.
“No matter how experienced the level of talent that’s involved, one can always slip up, which brings me back to the knocking on wood thing. S— can happen, man. At any point.”
This actually marks Lindo’s second almost-collaboration with Marvel. Back in 2016, he was set to star in the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. spinoff Most Wanted, but that series was scrapped before it got off the ground.
Despite the MCU door closing once again on Lindo, he doesn’t seem bitter about it, just realistic.
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