When Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman tragically passed away in 2020, Marvel Studios said it would not recast the character. But just over four years later, executives have seemingly had a change of heart.
According to Hollywood scooper Jeff Sneider, Marvel Studios is currently searching for a new actor to play T'Challa in future projects. "With Marvel reshuffling the deck in advance of Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, and Robert Downey Jr. coming back, not as Iron Man, but as Doctor Doom, I'm told that the door is firmly open for T'Challa to be recast via the magic of the multiverse," he said via The Direct.
"I heard that an actor was actually offered the role this past fall, a couple of months after Downey's big reveal at Comic-Con, but they turned it down, not wanting to jeopardize their career momentum by stepping into Boseman's gigantic shoes, which may be too big to fill, even for Hollywood's most talented Black actors," he continued. Although it remains unclear if the character will appear in the upcoming Avengers movies, Sneider believes that the newly cast T'Challa will lead Black Panther 3.
Sneider also revealed that Black Panther director Ryan Coogler will be actively involved in the recasting process to ensure that "everything will be handled with the utmost care and in consultation with Boseman's family." Marvel previously ruled out recasting the character for 2022's Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Instead, T'Challa was written out of the story, having died from an unnamed illness. Letitia Wright's Shuri later took up the Black Panther mantle.
Boseman first appeared as Black Panther in 2016's Captain America: Civil War. Two years later, he led the cast of Black Panther alongside Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Sterling K. Brown, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, and Andy Serkis. The story follows T'Challa, who returns to Wakanda after his father's death to take his rightful place as king. But he is challenged by Killmonger (Jordan).
Black Panther 3 Is Currently In The Works
The movie was a massive hit, earning over $1.3 billion at the global box office and won three Academy Awards. Sadly, Boseman lost his battle with cancer on Aug. 28, 2020. Following the success of Wakanda Forever, a third film was announced in late 2024. Longtime studio exec Nate Moore is spearheading the project before his time with Marvel ends. The exit comes as Moore wants to focus on producing non-Marvel projects.
However, Marvel Studios' Kevin Feige and Louis D'Esposito said that Moore is committed to finishing the third Black Panther movie. "Nate is a fantastic executive and colleague as well as a wonderful friend to all of us here at Marvel Studios," they said. Although we'll miss him a great deal, we look forward to watching what he does next while also having the good fortune of working with him in a new way on our next Black Panther movie."
Black Panther 3 does not have a release date at this time.
Source: The Direct
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