Chadwick Boseman’s brother Derrick is hoping for his brother’s role as T’Challa in Black Panther to be recast. He believes that is what the late actor would have wanted. According to People, Derrick Boseman told TMZ that while his brother never specifically said he wanted the character to be recast after his death, he is confident his brother would feel the character was bigger than himself. Derrick Boseman is not alone in this belief. Film critic Emmanuel “E-Man” Noisette is head of a Change.org petition to recast T’Challa in future entries of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Noisette believes that to remove T’Challa from the MCU “would be at the expense of the audiences (especially Black boys and men) who saw themselves in him.” The petition has been signed by nearly 44,000 people at the time of this writing.
As of now, Marvel has not changed their decision to discontinue the character. In November, Marvel’s VP of Development Nate Moore said that it took minutes to decide not to continue the character that they felt was so tied to Boseman’s performance.
Chadwick Boseman died of colon cancer on August 28, 2020. He portrayed T’Challa, AKA Black Panther, in four MCU films. His last portrayal was in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. T’Challa was an iconic character in the MCU, so much so that the Walt Disney Co. adjusted Black Panther’s opening credits as a tribute to Boseman.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever began production in June, and is scheduled for release in November of 2022. T’Challa has not been recast in this film. Other actors from the first film will reprise their roles, and the film is set to explore more about those characters.
What do you all think? Should Chadwick Boseman’s role as Black Panther be recast due to his untimely death? Can any actor fill the T’Challa role the way Chadwick Boseman did? Give your thoughts in the comments.