*Marvel executives previously made clear that Chadwick Boseman’s role of T’Challa in “Black Panther” will not be recast for the sequel, but the brother of the late actor supports a fan petition calling for recasting.
Boseman’s brother Derrick told TMZ Tuesday that “his sibling would’ve wanted with this too,” the outlet writes.
Here’s more from the report:
Frankly, Derrick says Chadwick knew the power of the character, and the positive influence it carries. Derrick says there’s so much power in seeing a Black king — especially in a superhero capacity, like in the Marvel flick — which has a HUGE impact on African-American youth. DB tells us with Marvel killing off that character so quickly in the wake of Chadwick’s death, they’re kinda depriving black kids of a role model.
Meanwhile, Marvel VP of Development Nate Moore spoke on the decision not to recast Boseman’s character for future films during an appearance on the Ringer-Verse podcast.
READ MORE: ‘Black Panther’ Fans Call On MCU to Recast Chadwick Boseman Role
“I’m being quite honest: You will not see T’Challa in the MCU 616 universe,” he said. “We couldn’t do it.”
Moore added, “When Chad passed, it was a real conversation we had with [director Ryan] Coogler about, ‘What do we do?’ and it was a fast conversation. It wasn’t weeks, it was minutes of we had to figure out how to move that franchise on without that character. Because I think we all feel so much of T’Challa in the MCU on the screen… is tied to Chadwick’s performance.”
Director Ryan Coogler was writing the script for the sequel when he learned the sad news that the film’s star had died. Boseman passed away in August 2020 at age 43 after a 4-year private battle with colon cancer.
“It’s difficult,” Coogler told The Hollywood Reporter about moving forward with the franchise without the film’s star. “You’ve got to keep going when you lose loved ones. I know Chad wouldn’t have wanted us to stop. He was somebody who was so about the collective. Black Panther, that was his movie. He was hired to play that role before anybody else was even thought of, before I was hired, before any of the actresses were hired.”
“On that set, he was all about everybody else,” Coogler continued. “Even though he was going through what he was going through, he was checking in on them, making sure they were good. If we cut his coverage, he would stick around and read lines off camera [to help other actors with their performances]. So it would be harder for me to stop. Truthfully. I’d feel him yelling at me, like, ‘What are you doing?’ So you keep going.”
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” is expected to hit theaters Nov. 11, 2022.
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