Fresh off her success in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, emerging star Awkwafina is set to jump from the MCU to the Universal monster movie universe. The actress has joined the cast of a Dracula spinoff movie titled Renfield that has been adding names quickly over the last few days.
Awkwafina, who was likely best known as a rapper before she got her big break in Hollywood a few years back. While she has appeared in successful films including Crazy Rich Asians, she introduced herself to a much bigger audience earlier this year when she appeared in Shang-Chi as the best friend and close confidant of the titular character. Now she's changing over from superhero films to the horror movie genre.
Renfield recently named several other stars alongside Awkwafina, including Nicholas Cage who will play the master of the night himself, Dracula. Nicholas Hoult has also been added to the spinoff, according to The Wrap's sources. Hoult is set to play the film's titular character as the loyal sidekick to Cage's Dracula.
So far, there hasn't been a ton of details released about what role Awkwafina will play in Renfield, though it's believed she'll be playing a cop, so she could end up as an adversary to the other main characters. Story details are also being kept under wraps, but there are some well-known details about the character that's being brought to the big screen once again.
In Bram Stoker's 1897 novel that brought the legend of Dracula to the masses for the first time, Renfield is a kind of servant to Dracula who has been slowly transformed and driven slightly mad by the vampire. He eventually ended up at an insane asylum where he fed on vermin to "absorb their life force" much like Dracula did to his prey. His occupation of the asylum allowed the vampire to enter and attack Jonathan Harker's fiance, Mina Harker. It seems likely that story will be changed up in some way for Universal's latest entry into that lore.
Before Renfield hits the big screen, Awkwafina has several other projects she's launched or is getting ready to launch in addition to Shang-Chi. She'll next appear alongside Mahershala Ali in Swan Song and an untitled Netflix comedy special that also stars Sandra Oh. The actor also saw her own Netflix original series, Nora from Queens air on the streaming service over the summer of 2021. Universal has not yet announced when Renfield is due to release.
Source: The Wrap