Delroy Lindo, who was recently nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for his performance as Delta Slim in Sinners, might be set to bring his considerable talents to the MCU… “if the stars line up.”
While speaking to THR about his first Oscar nomination at the age of 73, Lindo revealed that he spoke to Sinners director Ryan Coogler about potentially reuniting when the filmmaker steps behind the camera for Marvel Studios’ Black Panther 3.
“I expressed to Ryan that if the stars line up, I would love to be in Black Panther 3. One of the things he said to me was anything that he were to offer me, he would want to be sure that it was worth my time. He didn’t say exactly that, but that’s essentially the sentiment. And I respect that.”
Coogler has reportedly been working on the script for the MCU threequel for a while at this stage, so he may not have a particular role in mind that he does feel would be worth Lindo’s time – at least not for this movie.
Lindo went on to discuss his career and his approach to acting.
“I have no desire to denigrate or take away from myself, but I don’t think of myself as a leading man; I think of myself as a character actor. In terms of the space that I take up and that I work to fill on any project, I just think about how can I flesh out this character as much as possible and how can I most effectively fill the space that this character occupies in the script? Really, from that standpoint, it has nothing to do with being a leading man. And frankly, it has nothing to do with being a character actor. It has to do with how can I do the best job possible in this work.”
Plot details for Black Panther 3 remain under wraps, but we do know that Denzel Washington is on board for an undisclosed role. There have also been rumours that, in addition to Letitia Wright’s Shuri, the story will focus on a new take on T’Challa reclaiming the BP mantle.
“I’m not making movies to prove anything. I’m telling stories that I want to tell; that I’m obsessed with; that I feel the burning desire to do,” said Coogler during a recent interview. “[Black Panther 3 is] a movie that I’m incredibly excited about. That’s really the truth of it. [The] opportunity to prove things to myself or prove things about the marketplace now, absolutely.”
“I got [Black Panther 3] on my heart,” he added. “From the outside looking in, you might say, “Man, why is this dude making another one of those?’ That’s totally fine. That’s totally a question that makes sense. I don’t deny that. It’s my job as a filmmaker to show why, it’s my job to answer that question.”