Marvel superhero/vampire hunter Blade has had an interesting rollout since his announcement over a year ago at Marvel Studios Comic-Con panel. While still not officially having an announced release date, long-time speculation has suggested it to have a fourth-quarter release in 2022. DisInsider recently broke the news that the film is currently set to start production in September, which would align with that speculation.
Yesterday, however, an official casting call from the production team was put out searching for a teenage actress to play “Ruby”. Ruby’s character is broken down as “thoughtful, serious and burdened by growing up in a complex world.” What can be taken from this, primarily, is that this is more than likely a larger role given they’re actively casting early in pre-production. This could imply that we may even see the character in a sooner project than Blade (possibly an end credits scene of another film or series).
While fan theories haven’t exactly pinned who Ruby could be a comic adaption of there are few choices at hand. Ruby could be an entirely new character to the MCU. Maybe playing a troubled teen needing protection from Blade, whether human or a hybrid human-vampire like himself. This is entirely plausible considering there haven’t been any seeds planted yet for this brand of Marvel. The more obscurity the film has for the viewer, the more room the studio has to create without obligatory inclusion of other characters or properties. Murphy’s Multiverse has also speculated on the idea that Ruby could Blade’s daughter, based on the cancelled comic from Tim Seeley that was set to introduce Fallon Grey. My best bet is that the studio is taking an opportunity to introduce another Marvel horror icon, Elsa Bloodstone. The two have a lot of common ground as one hunts vampires and the other hunts all monsters in general. Also, studio casting calls usually have a habit of listing fake names for the roles they’re casting for. Ruby being a name derived from a red gem and “Bloodstone” being synonymous with a red gem, it’s easy to make a connection.
More news is expected to roll out gradually as we get closer to September’s beginning of production. With multiple releases of MCU projects coming between now and then it’s also likely we might get a first look at either Blade or Ruby. This could potentially give us an idea at what sort of plot we could expect from the 2022 film.
Source: DisInsider
