It introduces two new major characters absent from the source: Clemens (Corey Hawkins), a Black Cambridge-educated doctor who repeatedly references facing racism that blocks his employment in Europe, and Anna (Aisling Franciosi), a female stowaway enslaved by Dracula as blood rations. These additions drive subplots around prejudice, with the white crew depicted as largely superstitious and less competent while Clemens serves as the rational protagonist who survives and vows revenge.

Multiple reviews and audience reactions explicitly flag the anachronistic racism theme and diversity casting as forced modern insertions into a Victorian setting. The core premise remains a straightforward vampire horror tale with no identity-politics foundation, yet the deliberate foregrounding of these elements in character arcs and dialogue elevates the progressive influence beyond incidental diversity.