There’s no doubt that Chadwick Boseman was perfect for the role of T’Challa in Black Panther, and director Ryan Coogler has revealed just how deep the connection actually went.
In The Official Black Panther Podcast, Coogler spoke about what it was like working with Boseman, and how he was more confident in the director’s abilities than the director was in himself at the time. Boseman understood the significance of the moment and compared the level of the project to Star Wars. When asked if the actor was the steward of the franchise, Coogler confirmed that Boseman was aware of his place in the iconic mythos even before he was cast.
“He believed he was ordained to get that role. We would talk about that, he would be like, ‘Yeah, I had him on vision journals and I wanted to do this role if they ever did it, and I feel like I could do it.’ He was T’Challa before Civil War in a way, you know what I’m saying? In his mind. And I’m sure there are a lot of actors out there like that, but they wasn’t Chad.”
Boseman made his first appearance as Black Panther in Captain America: Civil War. T’Challa believed that Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) was the one responsible for killing his father, and spent the movie hunting him down. After this appearance, he got his own movie and has appeared in multiple MCU projects such as Avengers: Endgame and the MCU animated anthology, What If…?
Black Panther was a monumental success. It made $1.3 billion dollars at the box office and was nominated for many awards. Boseman’s performance was lauded as transcendent, bringing the character to life and inspiring leagues of people. After the news of his passing, questions swirled around where the story would go, and Coogler wasn’t sure of it himself.
Coogler went on to say that Boseman was a trailblazer that made this story real for so many people. Everybody else fell in line and believed in this movie because he believed in it first.
The director also shared details on the original plans for a T’Challla-led sequel. He found out about Boseman’s passing right after he finished writing the script. His last conversation with Boseman was asking him if he wanted to read it before he got notes from the studio.
Although Boseman is gone, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will stand as a loving tribute to the beloved actor.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever arrives in theaters Nov. 11.
