An actor previously attached to Marvel Studios’ Blade addresses the movie’s many problems, which ended up removing him from the MCU movie’s cast. Announced at San Diego Comic-Con 2019, Blade has been in development for six years now. Throuhgout the years, Blade has been delayed multiple times, and its script has been rewritten from scratch. Mahershala Ali has been attached to the project since the beginning, but the writers, director, and actors that were originally attached to Blade have since been dropped.

Delroy Lindo, who joined the Blade cast in 2021, speaks to EW about the MCU movie’s production problems. Lindo describes the original plans for Blade as “very inclusive” and “exciting conceptually.” Unfortunately, as Lindo says, “it just went off the rails.” Delroy Lindo doesn’t know what led Marvel’s Blade to go through several major changes, but he, Aaron Pierre, the writers, and the director were dropped from the project. Read Lindo’s comments below:

“When Marvel came to me, they seemed to be really interested in my input,” Lindo recalls. “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.”

What Delroy Lindo’s Blade Movie Comments Mean

Blade’s Issues Are Still Kept Under Wraps

Blade moved forward much more slowly than other Multiverse Saga projects, but it managed to cast at least two actors besides Mahershala Ali. Delroy Lindo joined the Blade cast in November 2021, and Aaron Pierre joined in February 2022. Since then, both Lindo and Pierre abandoned the project, and Blade has yet to announce new members of its cast. Neither Marvel nor any individual person working on the MCU’s Blade movie has explained what exactly has caused the movie’s delays, but it seems to be serious enough to warrant a complete overhaul more than once.

Delroy Lindo and Aaron Pierre’s Blade roles were never confirmed. Since they left Blade, Aaron Pierre joined James Gunn’s DCU as the Green Lantern John Stewart, who will co-star with Kyle Chandler’s Hal Jordan in the upcoming Lanterns show. Delroy Lindo was cast in Sinners, directed by Black Panther director Ryan Coogler and starring Killmonger actor Michael B. Jordan. Meanwhile, Mahershala Ali made a voice cameo as Blade in Eternals and has maintained an active role in Blade‘s development. To this day, however, Blade has no release date, cast, or storyline yet.

Our Take On Delroy Lindo’s Blade Movie Comments

Blade’s Multiple Delays Are Concerning

Blade has taken much longer to reach a final script than any other MCU project. Apart from all the major changes in its plot and cast, the fact that Blade is such a straightforward character makes his movie’s delays quite concerning. A dark, action-fueled, standalone MCU movie where Eric Brooks hunts vampires is a concept that could easily make Blade a mᴀssive success. Yet, it seems like more complex projects like Avengers: Doomsday, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and Avengers: Secret Wars will be completed before Blade enters production.

Source: EW