The popularity and iconography of Marvel’s Black Panther superhero is at an all-time high. Since the success of the 2018 film of the same name, both the character and property as a whole have become more recognizable with mainstream audiences.
Unfortunately, a somewhat concerning pattern has also risen from Disney and Marvel as a company ever since the passing of Chadwick Boseman. If left unchecked or unanswered, the current trend can have potential negative consequences or implications – and ultimately regress some of the progress in diversity and representation that the 2018 film worked hard to build.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF T’CHALLA IN THE MCU
The late Chadwick Boseman first made his debut as the Black Panther/T’Challa in Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War (2016). Two years later, Boseman starred in a Black Panther solo film that went on to have massive cultural impact. Since then, Boseman returned as the character in two more of Marvel’s historically biggest films: Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019).
On August 28th 2020, Boseman tragically passed away after a four-year long battle with stage III colon cancer. In the aftermath of his death, Marvel announced they will not be recasting the role of T’Challa out of respect for the actor. The sequel to 2018’s Black Panther titled Black Panther: Wakanda Forever released in 2022, and functioned as both a tribute to the late actor and passing of the torch to T’Challa’s sister Shuri (played by Letitia Wright).
The decision to not recast the role of T’Challa has gotten a wide array of mixed responses from comic book fans, black audiences and other audiences alike. Some, including actor Anthony Mackie who co-starred with Boseman in several MCU films, felt it was the appropriate call on how to handle the character of T’Challa going forward:
No. You can’t recast it. I mean, he did that role in a way that’ll never be done again, and I would hate for an actor to have to pick up the baton that he left behind, because, you know, there was no question he was a dynamic figure and amazing actor. And just looking at the reaction to Black Panther, there’s nobody that could bring the grace to that role that he did, so I wouldn’t want to see, you know, ‘Anthony Mackie as Black Panther’; that would be awful." -Anthony Mackie (2021)
Others criticized the decision as coming off regressive in the context of a culture where white iconic characters getting recast is the norm. Four-time New York Times bestselling author and speaker Luvvie Ajayi said the following in regards to Marvel’s decision:
"Superheroes do not really die, even when they die. In comic books, they die and somehow manage to come back… Superheroes don’t die, even if the actor who plays them is incapacitated, or passes away. They’re recast, for whatever reasons studios find. Their stories aren’t tied to the lives of the actors who first step into those roles. Bruce Wayne (Batman). Clark Kent (Superman). Peter Parker (Spiderman). Captain America (Steve Rogers). We’ve seen them portrayed by countless actors. There have been like 3 Captain Americas, 7 Batmans, 9 Supermans. There will be more. The Joker has been recast twice since the late Heath Ledger’s incredible performance in “The Dark Knight.”
T’Challa should be recast, and this is not to reduce the iconic portrayal of Chadwick. This is to speak of the importance of the character. He made T’Challa into an icon and he will forever be credited with that. That icon, cannot be deleted. T’Challa, even beyond his physical capabilities when he dons the Black Panther suit, means so much to so many people. He means so much to Black people. We didn’t all turn out on February 2018 to the theaters in our finest garbs just because of a comic book movie we were excited about. We were pushed by the cultural significance and the representation of us leading a blockbuster comic canon film, and represented as a god amongst men. White kids have had Batman, Superman, Spiderman, Captain America and whatever other caped legging-ed flying invincible flying men to look to for decades on a big scale. Black kids first got Spawn (remember him?) but Black Panther was THE ONE for them. And now he’s gone. For me, that’s a heartbreaking loss. They get COUNTLESS and we get ONE. And that ONE is gone…
Black boys need to see the King of Wakanda. A superhero in their image, who commands respect, who rules a land that lacks for nothing and is threatened by nothing. A bridge builder who has immense physical power but leads heart first. Black girls need T’Challa. A Black man who is proudly led, loved and protected by an army of strong Black women, while he, in turn, respects, reveres and cherishes them. For their brawn, beauty and overall badassery. To tell them he is dead is a different type of hurt... Everyone else gets to have their superheroes, over and over again. Black kids got one. But superheroes aren’t supposed to die. They are supposed to be larger than life, invincible, untouchable. But theirs might be done. Comic books are simply violent fairy tales (although fairy tales are also violent but that’s another piece for another day). Happily ever after means you never have to worry about them being really gone. They will always come back somehow, and the journey is about the HOW. But they’ve been told theirs left for good…
To let [T’Challa] die is to say even in fantasy, we can’t have fantasy. We can’t have happily ever after even in our own fairy tales. But everyone else can. I struggle with that. Are the Black kids who sleep with their Black Panther action figure or begged to be him for Halloween getting the message that they can’t ever rest in joy, even in made up worlds? Cuz if their favorite mythical figure can die as if he’s just another human, then what can they hold on to? What does it mean that even in fabricated stories, they still must face irredeemable loss? Do we always lose even when we win? What happens to your spirit and your ability to have imagination when a character who is supposed to be somewhat immortal ACTUALLY PASSES ON? Why believe in the impossible? There will never be another Chadwick Boseman, and his portrayal of the King of Wakanda was archetypal. However, it cannot end with him. Let King T’Challa live as we mourn Chadwick’s death and celebrate his life. We’ve already lost one king. We shouldn’t lose the other. And the point of LEGACY is to ensure that the work you start doesn’t just die with you. Let T’Challa live, Marvel. Recast T’Challa. It is time." -Luvvie Ajayi Jones (2022)
Needless to say, the debate over whether or not Marvel proceeded in the best way with the Black Panther IP (and with honoring Boseman) continues to this day.
JUST HOW UNUSUAL WAS NOT RECASTING MCU T’CHALLA?
While critics such as Ajayi Jones undoubtedly make important points and raise important questions regarding a potential double standard, it is also important to note that the MCU’s decision was not that usual in the grand scheme of things:
1. Feeling that no one could fill the voids left by Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans in their respective roles, Marvel chose to not recast Tony Stark and Steve Rogers. Instead, Marvel killed off the former and aged the latter out. Both of their mantles have been passed on to Riri Williams and Sam Wilson, respectively, in a way that mirrors the MCU passing the Black Panther mantle from T’Challa to Shuri.
2. Following Heath Ledger’s tragic passing in 2008, Christopher Nolan chose to not recast his continuity’s version of The Joker (or even reference him) for his third and final Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises (2012). According to Nolan, the decision was made out of respect for Ledger.
3. Since the integration of Spider-Man and the X-Men in the MCU, Marvel has so-far had more role reprisals than recasts of previous Sony/Fox-owned characters. Actors that have reprised their roles include Willem Dafoe as the Green Goblin, Alfred Molina as Doctor Octopus, J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson, Jamie Foxx as Electro, Patrick Stewart as Professor Xavier, Kelsey Grammar as Beast, Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. For at least some of those recasts, the rationale for it according to Kevin Feige was that Marvel thought no one else could effectively step in their respective roles (the same rationale given for not recasting T’Challa).
None of this is to say that critics like Ajayi Jones are “wrong” about the points they make. If anything, looking back they were arguably even more right about Marvel dropping the ball with T’Challa than they originally thought. To understand where and how Marvel dropped the ball, though, we must first understand what an understandable reaction to Boseman’s passing would look like. Given the examples above, maybe the decision to shelve T’Challa in the MCU was just “business as usual” with the recasts of Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne and Peter Parker being the real exceptions. However, T’Challa’s shelving seems to have now gone beyond just the MCU.