Black Panther 2 Is Happening, But Chadwick Boseman Won’t Be Replaced
Black Panther 2 is moving forward, but Chadwick Boseman will not be recast.
This article is more than 2 years old
In a wonderful tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman, Marvel’s man-in-charge Kevin Feige not only spoke touchingly of Boseman but confirmed what many were expecting. Marvel has no plans of recasting Boseman’s T’Challa in Black Panther 2.
Feige was speaking at Disney’s Investor Day, making announcement after announcement when toward the end of Marvel Studios’ presentation, he began to touch on the lasting effect Chadwick Boseman left. “I wanted to acknowledge the devastating loss of a dear friend and member of the Marvel Studios family,” Feige said through Deadline. “Chadwick Boseman was an immensely talented actor and an inspirational individual who affected all of our lives professionally and personally. His portrayal of T’Challa the Black Panther is iconic and transcends iteration of the character in any other medium from Marvel’s past.”
Chadwick Boseman first introduced T’Challa in Captain America: Civil War when his father, King T’Chaka of Wakanda, is killed by a bomb blast. Security footage of the blast shows that Bucky Barnes is responsible, sending T’Challa out to avenge his father’s death by hunting down and killing Barnes. Since that initial introduction, Boseman went on to portray T’Challa in his Black Panther standalone movie and again in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
Feige finished talking of Chadwick Boseman and Black Panther 2 by saying this, “To honor the legacy that Chad helped us build through his portrayal of the king of Wakanda, we want to continue to explore the world of Wakanda and all of the rich and varied characters introduced in the first film.” Disney also tweeted out the news which you can read above.
Feige’s announcement comes not long after Black Panther executive producer Victoria Alonso had to shut down rumors that there were plans to use a digital double of Chadwick Boseman in the new Black Panther movie. She made these comments in an interview with the Argentine newspaper Clarín also via Deadline, “No. There’s only one Chadwick, and he’s no longer with us. Sadly, our king has died in real life, not only in fiction, and we’re taking a little time to see how we continue the story and how to honor this chapter of what has unexpectedly happened to us, so painful and terrible to be honest,” Alonso said. “Chadwick wasn’t only a wonderful human being, every day of the 5 years we spent together, but also, I believe, that what he did as a character elevated us as a company, and has left his moment on history.” Alonso added, “I know that sometimes in productions, 2 or 3 months goes by and we say that too much time has passed. But it’s not too much time. We have to really think about what we’re going to do next and how. And decide how we’re going to honor the franchise.”
Marvel, Feige, and company have seemed to come to a conclusion, at least, on how they would be honoring Chadwick Boseman. As for the new direction of Black Panther 2, that still remains to be seen. Ryan Coogler will be back writing and directing the movie, which looks to go in front of the cameras in early 2021 with a May 6, 2022 premiere date.
It is assumed the Black Panther mantle would be handed over to Shuri, played by Letitia Wright, but she has found herself in some hot water recently when she posted an anti-vaccination video that received immediate backlash from fans. Wright eventually had to respond to her posting while also deleting the video from her Twitter feed. Her apology read, “My intention was not to hurt anyone, my ONLY intention of posting the video was it raised my concerns with what the vaccine contains and what we are putting in our bodies. Nothing else.” Her tweet has since been deleted.
It will be interesting to see exactly how Disney and Marvel handle the Wright fallout.
What do you think of Marvel’s decision not to recast Chadwick Boseman? Are we happy with their decision or do you think there is still more T’Challa story to tell and seeing a new actor don the Black Panther costume would be fine? Let us know.
