Since Chadwick Boseman’s death on Friday after a largely secret four-year battle with cancer, countless people who either knew or him or simply respected his work have spoken out about the enormous impact he had—not just through his work as an actor but through his action as a person and what his work and actions represented. Now, Black Panther director Ryan Coogler has shared a statement of his own, and it features even more fascinating insights into who Boseman was as a person and how he shaped the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s interpretation of T’Challa and the Black Panther movie itself.
The entire piece is worth reading, and you can read it in its entirety over at Deadline, but it’s particularly interesting to see just how thoughtful Boseman was about his portrayal of T’Challa even from his very first scenes in Captain America: Civil War. Coogler, who came on board to make Black Panther after Boseman had already been cast in Civil War, says he knew he wanted to make his movie from the moment Boseman has his first scene with John Kani, playing his father T’Chaka. After previously talking to Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow in English with an African accent, Boseman and Kani begin conversing in Xhosa, Kani’s native language, which Coogler learned later was a decision made by Boseman on the spot. In other words, he learned his lines in a different language that day, establishing that Xhosa would be the official language of Wakanda and setting up how their “dialect had not been conquered by the West”—which shaped virtually all of the dialogue in Black Panther.
Coogler seems to have many, many stories like that, like Boseman suggesting that the people of Wakanda should dance during a ceremony, because otherwise “what separates them from Romans?”, or recommending a change to Killmonger’s death scene (which originally involved him dying and being buried in Wakanda). Coogler goes on to say that he spent the past year developing Black Panther 2 and writing words for Boseman to say that “we weren’t destined to see,” and he says he’s “broken” about knowing that he won’t get to work with him again—but, adding, “it hurts more to know that we can’t have another conversation, or facetime, or text message exchange.” Apparently Boseman had been sending vegetarian recipes to Coogler family during the pandemic and would periodically check in on him, which is hardly surprising given everything we’ve seen and heard about Boseman.
Here are Coogler touching final thoughts:
In African cultures we often refer to loved ones that have passed on as ancestors. Sometimes you are genetically related. Sometimes you are not. I had the privilege of directing scenes of Chad’s character, T’Challa, communicating with the ancestors of Wakanda. We were in Atlanta, in an abandoned warehouse, with bluescreens, and massive movie lights, but Chad’s performance made it feel real. I think it was because from the time that I met him, the ancestors spoke through him. It’s no secret to me now how he was able to skillfully portray some of our most notable ones. I had no doubt that he would live on and continue to bless us with more. But it is with a heavy heart and a sense of deep gratitude to have ever been in his presence, that I have to reckon with the fact that Chad is an ancestor now. And I know that he will watch over us, until we meet again.
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A true actor, elevating the craft.
and now i’m crying
This is what the world is going through right now, I think — the adoption of a true capital-A Ancestor for all time. Coogler put it beautifully.
I’m angry. How could this awful year take him away from us? Like Heath Ledger, it feels like we were still at the beginning of discovering him, as an actor as well as a man.
Sorry, I’m trying to cope using humor. I don’t know what else to do.
I am really curious about what Coogler and Marvel do about the sequel. It speaks volumes to Boseman’s ability as an actor that his portrayal of T’Challa is already so iconic that it would be impossible to recast him. Do they jump forward or backward in time instead? Or find some way to bring back Michael B. Jordan, or switch the focus to Shuri?
Part of me thinks that the most respectful do would be to not make any more Black Panther films out of respect to Boseman, but another part of me thinks that telling even more Black stories would be more in line with what he’d want.
I’ve thought about it a lot but I can’t decide what’s best. Boseman is T’Challa. I want to honor him by not having anyone else play that role. I know that much. And if it means no more BP movies, I’m ok with that. But the BP franchise is massively important. Look at the impact it had on so many. So many black heroes on screen. We need that to continue as well. So I’m leaning towards continuing the franchise at some point. Maybe shift focus of Black Panther 2 to be about Shuri and Okoye. Perhaps in that film, introduce a new character that will take on the role of Black Panther from T’Challa (that gets explained at some point down the road, perhaps in another movie) or even pass the role of Black Panther onto Shuri herself. They could also get away with having T’Challa in BP2 in limited role by keeping him masked to pull off some kind of transition too.
Also don’t sleep on Winston Duke. In the comics his character is a villain, but they’ve already established a more nuanced take on that character and I’d be interested to see a version of him as a hero, perhaps alongside Shuri as the new Black Panther.
switching the focus to Shuri is the only real option I can see myself liking, honestly. from Boseman’s passion and love for this character I think he’d want to see it continue, but recasting or doing some time hijinks would just feel unfair to where the first movie left off. they have a fantastic, beloved-by-fans character in Shuri who could conceivably take over the mantle, I think if they’re smart that’s what they go for
It’s a very hard and delicate subject to talk about, let alone make a decision for. I don’t envy them for having to make one.I agree that Chadwick owned the role so beautifully, that it’s hard to imagine anyone else in the role, and in a way that’s respectful to him. But at the same time, I acknowledge that T’Challa the character, as powerful, iconic, and important as he is already, also deserves to live on and have more stories about and featuring him to be told in the silver screen.I’d figure that there would be a very vocal push-back against a recast, though.
I think an interesting route would be to have the sequel explore moving the Black Panther title away from belonging just one person. Maybe have Shuri, Okoye, and Nakia as joint “Black Panthers.” I feel like that could be a good way to honor Boseman/T’Challa. Sort of the idea that the Black Panther’s legacy exists in all of them, etc.
As everyone else who was shocked to hear of his passing, very much taken by surprise that he had cancer. After hearing his death, I was thinking, wait weren’t they planning on a BP2 soon? So I’m going to be that guy and ask everyone, if they do decide to move on with casting a new T’Challa/Black Panther, who would you guys want it to be? Me personally I can see either Yahya Abdul-Mateen II who played Black Manta, or Jonathan Majors from Lovecraft Country. Having Shuri take over the mantle would be a cool idea but I don’t know if she’s a strong enough character for the whole movie. Cuz y’all know you’ll have people complaining she’s not the real Black Panther. Which I call bullshit btw. But whatever Coogler and Marvel decide to do with the franchise, I can see it will be in good hands.
I like Shuri where she is, as a badass scientist, but Lupita’s character would be a really awesome black panther, since she’s a fighter and very interested in their global mission. If she’d become T’Challa’s queen, maybe she’d be in the running?
I mean, I’m no Marvel aficionado, so I learn about anything pertaining to either the films or comics through borderline cultural osmosis, but doesn’t T’Challa’s sister assume the mantle in the comic books?Seems like that would possibly be the least disruptive solution for the films.As a side, I seem to recall reading somewhere that there were all sorts of contingencies in place to address the sudden passing of any primary player in the MCU. And I have to imagine that studio execs were consequently aware of Chadwick Boseman’s health. Which likely means there’s a long established ‘break glass’ contingency under lock and key at Marvel HQ.