Marvel’s Kevin Feige, during yesterday’s Disney Investor Day announcement stream, paid tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman and made it clear that the actor will not be replaced as T’Challa.
“His portrayal of T’Challa [and] the Black Panther is iconic and transcends any iteration of the character in any other medium from Marvel’s past.” — Kevin Feige confirms Marvel will not recast Chadwick Boseman’s King T’Challa in #BlackPanther2 https://t.co/LZiJTbSX3y
— Insider (@thisisinsider) December 11, 2020
“I wanted to acknowledge the devastating loss of a dear friend and member of the Marvel Studios family,” Feige said. “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.”
Feige continued, “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.”
This news was a great relief for me because I think that, for many of us, Chadwick’s legacy is intertwined with Black Panther so deeply, and to remove the two is a Gordian Knot that I don’t think should be cut.
We will have a bit more of Boseman beyond just his last live-action performance in Ma Rainey’s Black bottom, which will debut on Netflix in the near future. Marvel’s What If…? trailer allows us to get one more look at a T’Challa, as voiced by Boseman.
The What If…? series will be ten animated episodes that explore what would happen if major moments from the Marvel Cinematic Universe occurred differently, with Jeffrey Wright as Uatu/The Watcher, our multiverse watcher on this journey into this massive AU.
Actors from the MCU will be reprising their characters, which will make this even more fun. Peggy Carter fans especially are going to be very happy.
In one of these multiverse AUs, T’Challa is the young boy taken by Yondu, instead of Peter Quill, and will end up getting to explore the galaxy and become Star-Lord, which sounds like a massive upgrade. Chadwick Boseman will be voicing T’Challa, and I am glad we will get one more time to hear his voice as see him as the character. That’ll mean a lot to a lot of people, especially young children who will get to see him as another hero.
Black Panther’s sequel will be written and directed by Ryan Coogler and is slated to be released on July 8, 2022. I am excited to see what will happen, it will forever be bittersweet, but I trust Coogler to be the one to take us on this other step of the journey. We have the time to do it well.
(via Deadline, image: Marvel Studios)
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