This would break one of Marvel’s cardinal rules.
With the “Black Panther” sequel plagued by rumors and backlash about star Leticia Wright’s purported anti-vaxxer views, Marvel fans have proposed a controversial way to refocus everyone’s attention — by recasting the late Chadwick Boseman’ titular role. That would mean breaking Marvel’s vow to not cast another T’Challa following the actor’s tragic death.
For the uninitiated, this past November showrunners halted production on “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” due to an injury Wright, 28, had suffered on set in August. During her recovery in October, reports had surfaced that the actress — who plays T’Challa’s sister Shuri in the film — expressed anti-vaccine views to cast and crew on set, according to the Hollywood Reporter. That led fans to believe the Guyana-born British star would be departing the sequel and the MCU universe forever, CBR reported.
Wright has denied the anti-vaxxer allegations in a now-deleted Instagram post, and production is slated to resume in January 2022, with the “Mangrove” actress on board.
Nonetheless, MCU die-hards believe that the superhero sequel could benefit greatly if someone succeeded Boseman as the King of Wakanda. The hashtag #RecastTChalla is currently blowing up online.
“I know this is a bit of a hot take but a lot of this rumored on-set drama of Black Panther 2 might’ve been prevented if they just recast T’Challa,” proposed one Marvel aficionado on Twitter. “I know people loved Chadwick Boseman, I did too, but that character had more stories to tell.”
Another wrote, “All due respect to Mr. Boseman and his loved ones, but the death of an actor does not spell the end of the character he portrays. T’Challa is not Chadwick, and vice versa. Rather, Chadwick portrayed a man who strove to improve the world. Anyone can be that.”
One supporter even posted an old interview with the “21 Bridges” star, suggesting that Boseman himself support the idea of someone else adopting the “Black Panther” mantle.
However, some “Black Panther” fans dubbed the idea an insult to the memory of Boseman, who died in 2020 at age 43 following a secret, four-year-long battle with colon cancer. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige himself announced in December 2020 that the “iconic” character would never be recast in the sequel due to the tragedy.
“Very disrespectful to Boseman!” fumed one Boseman backer. “He was the biggest of a few spotlights in an otherwise mediocre movie, which on the comic book scale means it was good enough to make a billion dollars. He made the character, in the movie, iconic!”
Another argued that recasting the star would be “an underestimation of the deep appeal of Chadwick Boseman on his own, let alone as this iconic, admirable character.
“It would be watered down by simply replacing the actor,” they added. “Grateful Disney recognizes this.”
It’s yet unclear whether Marvel would ever break their promise to never recast Boseman in the flick, which is slated to hit theaters in November 2022.
