Marvel and horror fans are united in their hope that the production of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Blade movie will start to gain some traction. The film, due for release at the end of 2025, has just two actors attached: Mahershala Ali, who’ll play the eponymous vampire hunter, and Mia Goth, who’ll play the antagonist Lilith.
Goth has recently spoken out about the movie for the first time, reassuring fans that it’s in safe hands with Marvel Studios. She told Deadline, “They really care. They do. They want to make a great movie. That’s the sense that I get from them and that feels good.”
But precisely who is Lilith in Marvel’s comic books, and why is she the perfect character for Mia Goth to play?
Who is Lilith?
Lilith is actually the name of two entirely different characters in Marvel Comics, and it’s important to differentiate between them here. One, an ancient demon goddess and sorceress known as the “Mother of All Demons,” will not be played by Mia Goth.
The other, the daughter of Count Dracula himself and Drac’s only child by his first wife, Zofia, is the one Goth will portray in Blade.
Having been forced into an arranged marriage by his father, Dracula threw Zofia out, along with baby Lilith, when his dad died so he could marry the woman he truly loved, Maria. Lilith was subsequently raised by Gypsies when her mother took her own life.
When a Gypsy woman named Leandra magically transformed Dracula into a vampire, he killed Lilith’s adoptive family. In response, Lilith’s adoptive mother, the Gypsy elder Gretchin, transformed her into a different type of vampire — one without the traditional vampire weaknesses — with the specific purpose of terrorizing her biological father until he was destroyed.
As stated by the Hollywood Reporter, the original plan for Blade was to have it set in the 1920s, with Lilith coming into conflict with the titular character when she sought out his daughter’s blood — presumably to use it in some way against her father. However, that script was scrapped, so the exact intricacies of her role are currently unknown.
There is a chance Lilith will end up as a hero (or at least an antihero) in the MCU, as she’s operated as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Paranormal Containment Unit in the comics. However, it’s still likely that she’ll start off as an enemy of Mahershala Ali’s character.
Goth’s status as a scream queen makes her ideal for the role — heck, even her name conjures images of Bram Stoker’s classic novel, Dracula. Her dark roles in movies like High Life, Suspiria, and the X franchise have prepared her well to play a tortured character familiar with blood and not afraid to kill.
Blade may be stuck in development hell, but in Ali and Goth — and indeed the film’s eponymous character and Lilith — it’s got strong foundations and great potential. Here’s hoping production gets up and running soon.
