On the 28th of August 2020, we lost Chadwick Boseman after his lengthy battle with cancer. The news shook the world as it was completely unexpected. We later heard that Boseman was diagnosed in 2016 and was actually battling this whilst filming his roles as T’Challa.
Black Panther 2 was in the works prior to his death with Ryan Coogler already having the script ready and also Chadwick was set to reprise his role as Black Panther. Due to Boseman’s untimely death, the script was pulled and had to be completely redone.
It was clear from the start that Ryan Coogler had a monumental task ahead of him with the new script. The one thing I am thankful for (that’s up for debate) is they decided to not recast Chadwick. I just don’t believe an actor could truly do much and would always be compared to Chadwick, further meaning he’d be in his shadow. It wouldn’t be fair.
Fast forward to 2022’s SDCC, the first official Black Panther trailer dropped. If you have somehow been living under a rock and missed it, then here you go;
Now don’t get me wrong, I am really excited about the movie. It’s one of the more anticipated upcoming Marvel movies for us at Comic Universe, however, that doesn’t stop this nervous feeling about the movie.
We know in the trailer T’Challa is dead. As T’Challa wasn’t going to be recast, it makes sense for this to happen. It also allows us fans to mourn the death of T’Challa whilst also mourning Chadwick, even if it’s over 2 years on.
We also know the movie is likely to be extremely sad. I can’t think there will be many dry eyes in the theatres when the movie drops.
Though despite my excitement, I’m nervous due to how they plan to move forward. It’s a sudden thing to happen to any project. I also believe Marvel would have so many plans for Chadwick’s Black Panther. This now all changes.
There’s been a lot of speculation surrounding who’s going to take the mantle. We pretty much knew then and know now that Shuri will be the one to don the suit. That’s fine, but my issue is – can Letitia Wright carry the character the same way Chadwick did? I believe she can, but it’s one of those things where we need to see it first before any judgment is made.
Moving on from that, I am nervous about Namor. I understand Marvel likes to take unusual directions at times when it comes to characters. This seems to be fairly distant from what I am usually seeing when it comes to Namor. This is the comparison I’m getting at. Again though, don’t take this at face – I am still withholding any judgment until I fully see Namor in the movie.
I do hope we get a fair amount of Riri Williams (Ironheart) in the film and it’s not just a small role she plays. She looks fantastic, and she needs that huge boost for her own show.
Finally, I do hope we get Shuri in the suit early on. I really don’t want to get to the end battle and she decides to put the suit on. I think we all need to see that growth for Shuri into the Black Panther.
