When Chadwick Boseman tragically passed away in the summer of 2020, Marvel elected not to recast his role as King T’Challa for the upcoming sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, instead retiring the character in his honor. Fans generally seemed to be on board with that decision at the time, but since then there’s been an increasing desire to see T’Challa recast in the MCU. This is not out of any disrespect to the much-missed actor, but rather due to the importance of T’Challa’s status as a hero and inspirational figure within the franchise and in the lives of fans.
A surprising figure has now joined the #RecastTChalla movement, which has been making waves on social media this week. It’s Chadwick’s brother, Derrick Boseman, who revealed his support for the concept of replacing his late brother with a new actor to TMZ. Paraphrasing Derrick’s words, TMZ writes that he feels the character “needs to live on” in the franchise, and he believes that this is something Chadwick would have agreed with.
Derrick explained that Chadwick “thought T’Challa was bigger than just himself as one guy” and that the actor “knew the power of the character, and the positive influence it carries.” He went on to stress that T’Challa has “a HUGE impact on African-American youth” and that by writing out the character “so quickly” after Chadwick’s passing, “they’re kinda depriving Black kids of a role model.”
Many of those engaging in the #RecastTChalla campaign on Twitter would likely agree with Derrick’s comments, although there’s another reason the movement has become so popular of late. Recent reports have said that Shuri actress Letitia Wright is refusing to receive the COVID-19 vaccine per Disney’s production rules. With Shuri expected to be the franchise’s new lead, a lot of folks feel it would be better to replace her with a recast T’Challa instead.
It’s probably too late to overhaul the entire sequel in this way, but if enough fans make a fuss⏤and perhaps if Boseman’s family reaches out to give the concept their blessing⏤T’Challa could be recast in a future movie.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is scheduled to release on Nov. 11, 2022.
