Rumors Circulate of Apparent Black Panther Recast, Just Under Five Years After the Passing of Chadwick Boseman
The tragic and untimely death of Chadwick Boseman in 2020 after his secret battle with colon cancer shocked the world and left a hole in both the Marvel Cinematic Universe and in the hearts of people everywhere. Now, not even five years later, rumors have begun to spread that a new actor may be filling Boseman’s shoes as the legendary Black Panther superhero. The possibility of a new installment in the franchise is exciting, but it also begs the question – how will this affect the legacy of Chadwick Boseman?
At the time of Boseman’s passing, the Black Panther sequel, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” had already been in the early stages of development, but Marvel chose to honor the late actor and his role as the celebrated King T’Challa by deciding not to recast the part, instead pivoting to a memorial style film where T’Challa’s sister (played by Letitia Wright) shouldered the ‘Black Panther’ mantle. The film released to significant success and enthusiastic reviews, and ultimately paid homage to Boseman with a proper sendoff for his role as the titular hero of the Black Panther franchise.
However, according to a recent insider report from film critic Jeff Sneider, “Marvel is looking to recast its Black Panther hero T’Challa ahead of the two [upcoming] Avengers movies [‘Avengers: Doomsday’ and ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’] and Ryan Coogler’s ‘Black Panther 3.’” Sneider even claimed that a specific actor was offered the role of Black Panther this past fall, but presumably turned it down either out of respect for Boseman or from the daunting pressure of following in his enormous footsteps. Though none of this has been directly confirmed by Marvel, it stands to reason that the idea to recast T’Challa is likely a result of the outpouring of requests from fans calling for a Black Panther return, as the franchise is undoubtedly one of the most beloved in the MCU.
There’s also reasonable speculation that the Black Panther mantle could be passed to T’Challa’s son, who was revealed in a post-credit scene in “Wakanda Forever” – apparently setting the stage for a future ‘soft recast’ for the King of Wakanda. It’s unclear how Marvel might pull this off, since Baby T’Challa had only just been born by the film’s end, and it would obviously take some time for the child to age into his role as the Black Panther. Then again, Marvel could easily find a way to justify this with the whole multiverse/time-travel thing, so who knows. It’s also a strong possibility that T’Challa’s sister, Shuri, will return, so maybe we’ll have two Black Panthers by the time the next movie hits theaters.
Whatever Marvel decides is in store for the future of Black Panther, one thing is for sure – no one can replace Boseman or affect the insurmountable impact that he had on the world as Black Panther.
