Chadwick Boseman Causes Fans To Boycott Black Panther 2
Fans of Chadwick Boseman are calling for a boycott of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, but not for the reason you'd expect.
This article is more than 2 years old
San Diego Comic-Con answered some pretty long-awaited questions. We now know the direction of the newly dubbed Multiverse Saga. We know when the Fantastic Four will finally enter the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And we finally know what film will culminate Phase 4. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has been one of the most anticipated movies of the post-Endgame era of Marvel, and now fans have gotten their first look at what they can expect. While the trailer unveiled at Comic-Con dazzled with a similar quality of costume and score that made the first film a success, not all fans are satisfied with how the loss of Chadwick Boseman is being handled.
After an astounding success due in large part to Chadwick Boseman’s portrayal of the main character, Black Panther looked to be the next mainstay in the MCU. Unfortunately, two years later, Boseman succumbed to colon cancer and left a giant hole in the franchise, the industry, and the hearts of fans worldwide. What followed was the endless debate over whether Marvel would recast T’Challa and continue his story or let the character rest with its actor and move on. A year later, fans got their answer when Kevin Feige committed never to recast T’Challa for the MCU franchise. Now that the trailer has dropped, fans have taken to Twitter again to call for a boycott of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, demanding to recast T’Challa and continue building his legacy for fans everywhere.
Many fans on Twitter using the hashtag #RecastTChalla believe that Chadwick Boseman would have wanted the character to be recast. @dontcallmecorn points to a statement the late actor’s brother made to TMZ that Boseman believed the power of young kids seeing a black superhero was bigger than one man, and it was vital to recast him to keep that power alive. Another believes that if Tom Holland or Robert Pattinson tragically passed on, the studios wouldn’t lay their most profitable characters to rest. Instead, they would recast them and keep them going. Marvel should do the same with T’Challa.
Twitter isn’t the only Platform revisiting the desire for a recast. Reddit has its own thread calling for the recast. u/IAmYoDaddyDuh11 posted his desire for a recast, along with an image of John David Washington taking over the role of T’Challa. The thread continues with loads of comments from fans who initially felt in their grief that the role shouldn’t stay only for Chadwick Boseman and shouldn’t be recast. Most commenters admit to changing their mind a year after the announcement that they would never see T’Challa again in the MCU. It isn’t a unanimous feeling that Marvel should recast him. Some fans believe there was no way forward for Marvel. We are now seeing the response to not recasting him; the detractors of the recast movement believe that if the studio elected to bring in a new actor for the role, fans would respond poorly to anyone not named Chadwick Boseman.
Either way, one thing is certain, the role of T’Challa will always carry the weight of Chadwick Boseman, and no one will ever play the character with the same charisma. The ability to carry the responsibility of millions of black children looking for their superheroes was one he took with grace and charm. Suddenly, his dialogue in Civil War carries with it all new meaning. “In my culture, death is not the end.”
