Delroy Lindo wanted to be in a vampire film; while the actor had his heart set on Marvel Studios’ Blade, he’s now become the scene-stealer in Ryan Coogler’s Sinners from Warner Bros.
The journey to his newly released film was rocky, mainly because the legendary actor was coming off Blade, the production that would have become the Marvel vampire film if it had come together. As we all know, the Mahershala Ali-led film has an infamously rough production. Lindo was set to star, but the cast has since changed from its original plans.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, the actor holds nothing back, telling the outlet that the early production went south quickly: “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.”
As for who he would have played, Lindo teased a “Marcus Garvey-esque” type of persona. Marcus Garvey was a Jamaican political activist, best known for his powerful way of speaking and founding the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA).
“I’m not saying that it would’ve been an out-and-out Garvey-ite,” said Lindo. “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.”
Last year, Marvel pulled Blade from its 2025 release calendar, although Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige subsequently reaffirmed his belief that Mahershala Ali’s Blade “will make it to the MCU” at some point.
