Even four years after its release, Black Panther continues to be one of the most successful films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Directed by Oscar nominee Ryan Coogler, the superhero movie went on to win three Oscars and amass much critical acclaim. Not to mention, it proved to be a box office hit too, hauling in more than $1.3 billion worldwide during its theatrical run.
At the heart of the film was the late Chadwick Boseman who portrayed the titular superhero also known as T’Challa. In the wake of his passing, however, changes had to be made to the sequel. And that ultimately meant declaring that T’Challa, too, has passed, much to the heartbreak of the king’s family and his love interest, Nakia, who is played by Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o.
T’Challa Was Not Recast Because ‘We Wouldn’t Have Believed It,’ Says Ryan Coogler
The much-awaited sequel to Black Panther wasn’t originally going to play out like this. As Coogler later revealed, the original story of the sequel rightfully centered on Boseman’s character once more as he grapples with Wakanda’s and his own new reality following the events of Infinity War and Endgame.
The first draft of that script was already written and ready for Boseman to review before he passed, only he refused to read it before it was sent to the studio.
“He said he didn’t wanna read it because he didn’t wanna get in the way of what direction the studio might have,” Coogler recalled while speaking on Wakanda Forever: The Official Black Panther Podcast. “So he was like it’s better for him to read it later.”
The director also added, “I found out later that he was too tired to read anything.” In a statement to Los Angeles Times following Boseman’s passing, Coogler also wrote, “I spent the last year preparing, imagining and writing words for him to say, that we weren’t destined to see.”
And while Coogler struggled with the idea of doing a sequel without Boseman at first, he (and the cast) eventually decided that it would be the best way to honor their late king. The director also decided that recasting T’Challa simply would not work.
“My truth is Chadwick is gone from the physical sense; he wasn’t walking through that door. And the world that we created over the years, he was the guy,” Coogler explained.
“So for someone else to be him—for us in the world that we created—we wouldn’t have believed it. No matter how good the actor was, no matter, it would have been lacking the necessary truth for us to do a good job…”
Lupita Nyong’o Supports ‘Allowing For Real Life To Inform The Story Of Movies’
For some time, there has been some widespread debate surrounding Coogler and Marvel’s decision not to recast Boseman’s role.
For Nyong’o, it was the right thing to do as sometimes real life has to inform fiction.
“That is not the death of the Black Panther, that’s the whole point. It’s laying to rest [T’Challa] and allowing for real life to inform the story of the movies,” the Oscar winner explained.
“I know that there are all sorts of reasons why people want him to be recast, but I don’t have the patience. I don’t have the presence of mind, or I don’t have the objectivity to argue with that. I don’t. I’m very biased.”
And while Coogler eventually found a way to continue Black Panther’s story without T’Challa, Nyong’o admits that she, too, felt that moving on with a sequel was almost inconceivable at first.
“Every time I thought about what the next Black Panther could be, my imagination fell short,” she recalled, later adding, “Ryan wrote something that so honored the truth of what every one of us was feeling, those of us who knew Chadwick. He created something that could honor that and carry the story forward. By the end, I was weeping.”
The Cast ‘Invoked’ Boseman’s ‘Spirit On A Daily Basis’ During Filming
From the start, the cast saw the sequel as a love letter to Boseman. And prior to starting production, the film’s returning stars, along with its newest cast members, got together to honor the late actor.
“We visited his resting place before we started filming and we had that moment as a cast,” Nyong’o shared. “We went with the new cast who hadn’t met him as well. It was our way of continuing this journey.”
And once on set, Boseman was in everyone’s minds. “We invoked [Chadwick’s] spirit on a daily basis. All of us found a way to pay tribute to him in different ways,” the actress continued.
“The line producer proposed not having a number one person on the call sheet, and so there was no number one. And we started with the number two onwards, and when Ryan told me that I just wept, because everybody just wanted to carry him with us.”
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTErZ%2Bippeoe6S7zGibopxdocKxtdOaZKexn6O0sHnWmqWtZaSYtaK4y5pkq52TlsC1ecKhmJ2vmZi4bq7OrJymmZ5k