Black Panther: Wakanda Forever cast reflects on the “stillness, reflection, prayer and meditation” of moving forward without Chadwick Boseman
The late actor's presence was felt on the set of the Marvel sequel
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After 2018's Black Panther raked in over a billion dollars at the box office and redefined the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s cultural impact, it was always going to be difficult to follow up. However, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, due out this fall, seems up to the challenge, despite its production being beset with difficulties like the pandemic, director Ryan Coogler getting mistaken for a bank robber, and, of course, the 2020 death of Chadwick Boseman.
Marvel Studios announced that the actor’s role would not be recast, and the first trailer for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is purposefully mysterious about which character will step into the vibranium suit. Ahead of the sequel’s release, the women of Wakanda opened up to the New York Times about the experience of returning to set without Boseman.
“There was a lot of stillness, reflection, prayer and meditation to bolster me up as emotionally, mentally and spiritually as possible,” Lupita Nyong’o shares. “It was a unique experience to step back into this world without our leader. When you have a sophomore film, there’s a lot of expectation. But I think the loss of Chadwick kind of took all that away. I found myself having to radically accept that this was going to be different, and that showing up with as much openness as possible was key.”
Boseman first played the role of King T’Challa back in 2016's Captain America: Civil War before the character’s solo installment in the franchise. He also appeared in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame before his death from a previously undisclosed battle with cancer.
“I remember sitting with Ryan, and he helped me process what felt different this time: It was grief,” adds Danai Gurira. “So grief intermingled with our process. There were things I couldn’t prepare for, like stepping into the throne room and remembering the last time I was there and getting really hit by that.”
Head over to the New York Times to read the full conversation. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever opens in theaters on November 11.
23 Comments
They shouldve just recast. Tchalla is a character that should be around awhile, not just do one movie, a few guest spots, then die. Boseman sounds like he was a great guy but they still couldve recast. You can bet that if an actor who played Spider Man or Thor or Hulk died, they wouldnt kill the character, theyd recast.
“You can bet that if an actor who played Spider Man or Thor”
I’d take that bet in a heartbeat.
See, here’s the thing: an actor playing a major character DID die and they DIDN’T recast.
I assume we will see him again via the multi-verse, but for the cast and the director, this just wasn’t the film to do it.
I kind of doubt it, they seem to be just fine with Shuri as a replacement.
You can bet that if an actor who played Spider Man or Thor or Hulk died, they wouldnt kill the character, theyd recast.Sure, but do you really think they’d recast immediately, if, say, something awful were to happen to Chris Hemsworth? I think they’d sideline Thor for a while before recasting, which may be an option for Thor, a mature established franchise cornerstone with four solo movies, but not so much for Black Panther, where the first movie was such a phenomenon, and sidelining the character risks losing that first movie’s audience, and snuffing out probably the most exciting new part of the MCU.That said, I agree with you and stick by my multiverse-based suggestion: back up a truckload of money in front of Michael B. Jordan’s house, and have him come over as T’Challa from a doomed alternate universe where T’Chaka and the Queen couldn’t conceive, and T’Chaka adopted his Erik Stevens rather than orphaning him and abandoning him in America.
Recasting the character is ridiculous and indicative of the entitlement of pop culture fans and their arrested development over escapism. It’s so insulting to Boseman, you can still have a Black Panther that takes over the mantle while still honoring the T’Challa character. The circumstance of WHY they don’t have the same actor is much, much different than why the actor who played the Hulk gets recast. But you’re a grown adult whose screenname is named after an X-Man, so I doubt you have the capacity for empathy to grasp any of this or you would have by now.
Hard disagree. I don’t see recasting the role as insulting to Boseman whatsoever. It’s job, he was an actor, and anyone on earth could play that role (or any role) whenever it’s needed. Are you saying nobody else can ever play T’Challa again? Because the original guy getting the paycheck for it died tragically young? That’s not pop culture entitlement, that’s being realistic. The man isn’t here, but the world doesn’t stop turning. The actor died, not the character. But I doubt you have the capacity for reason to grasp that.
Thank you, for once somebody on here with a fucking brain.
Its not ridiculous at all, your response is. Actors die. They get recast. Why he is the exception? Im sure he was a good guy but people act like he was some kind of saint. And judging me on a screenname is really condescending and stupid. Way to go. Youve obviously got some problems, there. I dont have any lack of empathy, youre just an asshole, clearly.
He’s an exception because of his impact as an actor, the characters he played and his connection to a landmark film and the cast and crew who made it. The situation is unique and it’s useless to pretend it’s not.
Its not pretending. Yeah he seemed like a great guy, i said that. Black Panther was a huge hit. But he’s not irreplacable. The character is more important than any one actor, he goes back to the 1960s.
He’s not irreplaceable FOR YOU. For most other people, including his co-workers and friends who make the movie, he was irreplaceable. Which is not to say the character won’t be played by someone else down the line, like Iron Man, Black Widow, and Cap, who were also not replaced when the actors departed the franchise.
And my point, which you were too stupid to get-(re: differences in casting)-if some other major character-Hulk, Thor, whoever- had to be recast because the actor died, THEY’D DO IT. Noone has given any good explanation why Black Panther should be the exception.
i think it’s funny that something you’ve decided is true (that if another character’s actor died they would recast) is somehow MORE TRUE than actual reality (the character’s actor died and they didn’t recast).like, they didn’t recast, so your theory about ‘they would do that’ is unlikely, based on what has actually happened in front of your eyes.
Of course i cant say what wouldve happened in a different reality-i said most likely, based on common sense, they WOULD recast, in a different (but similar) situation. Obviously these people chose not to do that, and they didnt. They SHOULD have, thats my point.
My guess: This movie is basically a memorial for Chadwick/T’Challa. Maybe some meditations on grief ala Wandavision thematic stuff. Come “Kang Dynasty”/”Secret Wars” there will be a multiverse burp and then comes in a alt universe T’Challa with a new actor to take over the role.
Of course, Boseman IS in this upcoming sequel, albeit possibly in just voiceover film. Kevin Feige let it slip that dialogue Boseman recorded during his marathon “What If?” session was taken aside for ‘Wakanda Forever’.
“And we had a conversation after that, with Ryan (Coogler, director), about how we can get some of this voice, not the storyline, but just some of that voice, into (Black) Panther 2. And now, of course, it is remarkably sad and bittersweet. But I’m really happy we had him, and I’m really happy he did it for us. I’m excited for the fans to see that as well.” – KEVIN FEIGE on USING CHADWICK BOSEMAN’S AUDIO IN WAKANDA FOREVER
I hope they really lean into the early-20th Century American Exceptionalism themes again.
It seems they are just doing a history of Olivia Wilde’s family.
What?
They were British military and, well, basically colonizers.
Ah, so like Wakanda at the end of the first movie.