‘Blade’ rumors suggest the mother of all demons could be the new film’s big bad

A Hollywood insider is shedding light on which character Mia Goth may play in the upcoming Marvel film Blade, starring Mahershala Ali. Per The Direct, insider Daniel Richtman posted a series of Patreon messages suggesting not only that Goth will be playing Marvel fan-favorite Lilith, but that she’ll also serve as the main antagonist of the new film.

However, dropping the name Lilith isn’t a simple answer, as fans know that two different characters answer to the moniker in the Marvel Universe. The first is the daughter of Dracula, who drinks blood, shapeshifts, commands animals, and even has some control over the weather. The other is the so-called “Mother of All Demons,” another immortal who’s actually an ancient demon goddess and sorceress who gives birth to demons and is one of the most magically skilled antagonists in all of Marvel lore.

According to Richtman, it’s unclear which version of Lilith that Goth will be playing, noting that she’ll possibly play “a combo of the two.” Although Lilith the Mother of All Demons might be a more powerful character, it might be hard for the filmmakers to resist making Dracula her father. For one thing, it’s terrific sequel bait. Plus, it would allow the Marvel films to dig into the dark side of pop mythology in a way they haven’t before. That was going to be Universal’s purview a few years back — before Tom Cruise’s The Mummy happened. So Marvel may want to go ahead and corner that market as well.

Perhaps all this speculation is a bit premature, even for a Marvel movie — Blade recently halted production due to the writers’ strike. Although it’s been nearly four years since the project was announced with Ali in the lead role, the film has encountered multiple delays and only late last month brought on True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto to polish the screenplay. Obviously, he didn’t have enough time to finish his draft before the strike, so Marvel has put the film on hold once again.

The great thing about vampires, though, is that they can wait forever. Here’s hoping everyone can head to the theater to watch Ali and Goth duke it out sometime in this century.