Black Panther Appreciation 2020

[Nate Grey]

Heres the thing, and don't take this the wrong way as in just explaining my own opinion. It's like I said, there are people who don't understand, not truly, WHY Black Panther resonated so well. People read about or see images of kids and grown adults at the theater in tears when watching black panther and they don't fully grasp the magnitude of how important this franchise is to people if you haven't experienced it first hand what it's like to see yourself represented like that.

I remember as a kid I used to wish I was white sometimes just so that I could feel that same feeling my friends who were white felt when they saw Spiderman, Batman, superman, and pretty much any hero or just character in general doing cool shit who also looked like them.

When you have it all the time it's easy to, well take it for granted. I'm not a long time Black Panther fan, I actually didn't learn about the character till I was browsing online one day in 2014 and happened upon him and then started researching him. Instantly I was intrigued and immediately after reading his wiki page I started looking online for any Black Panther comics I could get my hands on to buy. I couldn't believe that such a character existed.

I became an instant fan. So while I haven't waited my entire life to see BP specifically on sense of following his comics, I have been waiting my entire life to see a character who is truly one I want to aspire to be like.

This is more than just seeing him go to war with atlantis or joining the Avengers, or interacting with certain characters. This is about seeing T'Challa the man who from his franchise comes from a fantastical place, change it for the better, he is a King among kings, a warrior among warriors the GOAT.

And it's about exploring this character, who has a ton of history and importance behind HIM, as he was the one who was holding his franchise together, now as a fan and a person who's waited for such a character, have that taken away.

First there's the tragedy of a truly wonderful person, I don't get star struck or really care to meet any celebrities but Chad was one of very few on my list, but then also by this idea that there can only be one Black person occupying a certain space. Chadwick talked about that, wanting to break that mindset. But now exactly what he was working hard to break has just happened.

The a Black male led franchise with the potential (we already seen what it can do) to hit Spiderman, Batman, Superman, and Bond levels of success and household recognition, had had that very rare spot removed and it's going to try and split it between characters that frankly don't have any sort of weight behind them.

The one with the most, is M'Baku and he is nothing like his comic counterpart. They are trying to say Wakanda is bigger than T'Challa, he becomes a footnote in his own franchise while they try and make it work without any real Established.. anything to go off. Be it comics or even he MCU itself.

Every actor will always be compared to their predecessor when playing characters like T'Challa or Peter. That's just how it is, but at the same time none of these characters are beholden to any actor.

Chadwick realised how important T'Challa was to people. You don't need to see an interview with his spoon feeding it to know this, actions speak louder that words. When he talks about all my children and how his characters backstory, he could of kept quiet and got paid, instead he fought for change and more than stereotypes, he got fired but that led to his successor MBJ to get the character with better foundation and depth to him which led him to success.

In 42 Chad studied Robinson videos to see how he moved and slid into bases so he could get it right, and argued with the directors about how the stunt double wasn't sliding how Robinson did in real life and they agreed to let him do it himself. For Black panther he fought to not have Wakandan speaking with a British accent and was willing to walk away if they didn't relent. He turned down endorsements that he felt would hurt T'Challas positive image for young kid's.

He's done all of that worked so hard.. do you think he would really be cool with T'Challa dieing with him? After all that work? To rob people of that feeling they had wheb they left the theater for the the solo movie? Straight up, Disney fucked up. This announcement was in bad taste. They waited less than 4 months after his passing and announced not only are they going to start filming next year but T'Challas out.

Under honoring a character Chad fought hard to get to the big screen. No ones allowed to play the character. Sure it sounds nice when they pretty up the words but they have just said that this character is not important enough to continue and what he brings to the table isn't worth exploring. They say they want to Honor Chad while ignoring WHAT Chad was doing which was setting this character up for others to continue what he started and continue to inspire millions like he did.

You say they love the rich culture.. but not the Character, the Man who inspires greatness, the KING who inspired that greatness. Name another black hero that even matches up to T'Challas stature. No drugs, no baby mamas no gangs, or pimps, a good man with a good heart. People love Cap Because he represents american values. Well people love T'Challa Because he represents Black excellence and they took that character away from us because hey wanted to rush announcements and not let people have time (fans and the crew alike) to properly mourn

[XPac]

It's better to potentially have a footnote rather than having nothing at all. As it stands t'challa is ceasing to exist. Chadwick Boseman work is ceasing to exist after one solo movie. There is no defense of this choice that honors either t'challa or the man that played him. That includes Feigie and company who are just mournful enough to kill Ychalla off but just greedy eniugh to push the movie out in time without the franchise character.

I think saying T'Challa is ceasing to exist jumping the gun a little.

Again, I don't think anyone actually said T'Challa would NEVER be recasted. Merely that they wouldn't recast him in the next movie. They can still choose to recast him down the line, possible after a lot of the drama over his death has somewhat lulled.

Plus odds are descent somewhere down the line the entire MCU will be rebooted and we'll see all these guys including the original Iron Man and Captain America back. That of course is likely way down the line as the current MCU run hasn't shown any sign of slowing down YET.

[Ekie]

I think saying T'Challa is ceasing to exist jumping the gun a little.

Again, I don't think anyone actually said T'Challa would NEVER be recasted. Merely that they wouldn't recast him in the next movie. They can still choose to recast him down the line, possible after a lot of the drama over his death has somewhat lulled.

Plus odds are descent somewhere down the line the entire MCU will be rebooted and we'll see all these guys including the original Iron Man and Captain America back. That of course is likely way down the line as the current MCU run hasn't shown any sign of slowing down YET.

What care for this franchise has Marvel shown you that you think they're unwilling to cast aside the titular character as long as they put out a black product? People can pretend like there's no such thing as MCU synergy but I've seen it in every video game that Marvel has been putting it out lately and all of the advertising for the black panther franchise since Bozeman passed.
Marvel AKA Disney will synergize like they always do. And if there's no t'challa in the MCU can you can bet every other medium is sure to follow eventually. Marvel AKA Disney only cares about money not about content especially with their minority properties. The time for catious optimism died with the rushed announcement of gleefully removing the titular character from his own franchise after it was their highest grossing Solo movie.

[skyvolt2000]

It's better to potentially have a footnote rather than having nothing at all. As it stands t'challa is ceasing to exist. Chadwick Boseman work is ceasing to exist after one solo movie. There is no defense of this choice that honors either t'challa or the man that played him. That includes Feigie and company who are just mournful enough to kill Ychalla off but just greedy eniugh to push the movie out in time without the franchise character.

Someone should ask would they do that with any other franchise?

After one movie not 3 like Thor?

[Dboi654]

This reminds of the announcement of a Robocop movie or series (not sure) months ago where it was stated that the plot will focus on OCP and not Robocop. Who the hell wants to see a series/movie focused on Robocop's lore without Robocop in it?

Unfortunately, we are in this same situation with BP

[Dboi654]

Someone should ask would they do that with any other franchise?

After one movie not 3 like Thor?

They definitely won't do that with a Batman movie even though it WB.

Funny that Batman was recast twice between Batman and Batman & Robin with the same supporting characters.

[Username taken]

Heres the thing, and don't take this the wrong way as in just explaining my own opinion. It's like I said, there are people who don't understand, not truly, WHY Black Panther resonated so well. People read about or see images of kids and grown adults at the theater in tears when watching black panther and they don't fully grasp the magnitude of how important this franchise is to people if you haven't experienced it first hand what it's like to see yourself represented like that.

I remember as a kid I used to wish I was white sometimes just so that I could feel that same feeling my friends who were white felt when they saw Spiderman, Batman, superman, and pretty much any hero or just character in general doing cool shit who also looked like them.

When you have it all the time it's easy to, well take it for granted. I'm not a long time Black Panther fan, I actually didn't learn about the character till I was browsing online one day in 2014 and happened upon him and then started researching him. Instantly I was intrigued and immediately after reading his wiki page I started looking online for any Black Panther comics I could get my hands on to buy. I couldn't believe that such a character existed.

I became an instant fan. So while I haven't waited my entire life to see BP specifically on sense of following his comics, I have been waiting my entire life to see a character who is truly one I want to aspire to be like.

This is more than just seeing him go to war with atlantis or joining the Avengers, or interacting with certain characters. This is about seeing T'Challa the man who from his franchise comes from a fantastical place, change it for the better, he is a King among kings, a warrior among warriors the GOAT.

And it's about exploring this character, who has a ton of history and importance behind HIM, as he was the one who was holding his franchise together, now as a fan and a person who's waited for such a character, have that taken away.

First there's the tragedy of a truly wonderful person, I don't get star struck or really care to meet any celebrities but Chad was one of very few on my list, but then also by this idea that there can only be one Black person occupying a certain space. Chadwick talked about that, wanting to break that mindset. But now exactly what he was working hard to break has just happened.

The a Black male led franchise with the potential (we already seen what it can do) to hit Spiderman, Batman, Superman, and Bond levels of success and household recognition, had had that very rare spot removed and it's going to try and split it between characters that frankly don't have any sort of weight behind them.

The one with the most, is M'Baku and he is nothing like his comic counterpart. They are trying to say Wakanda is bigger than T'Challa, he becomes a footnote in his own franchise while they try and make it work without any real Established.. anything to go off. Be it comics or even he MCU itself.

Every actor will always be compared to their predecessor when playing characters like T'Challa or Peter. That's just how it is, but at the same time none of these characters are beholden to any actor.

Chadwick realised how important T'Challa was to people. You don't need to see an interview with his spoon feeding it to know this, actions speak louder that words. When he talks about all my children and how his characters backstory, he could of kept quiet and got paid, instead he fought for change and more than stereotypes, he got fired but that led to his successor MBJ to get the character with better foundation and depth to him which led him to success.

In 42 Chad studied Robinson videos to see how he moved and slid into bases so he could get it right, and argued with the directors about how the stunt double wasn't sliding how Robinson did in real life and they agreed to let him do it himself. For Black panther he fought to not have Wakandan speaking with a British accent and was willing to walk away if they didn't relent. He turned down endorsements that he felt would hurt T'Challas positive image for young kid's.

He's done all of that worked so hard.. do you think he would really be cool with T'Challa dieing with him? After all that work? To rob people of that feeling they had wheb they left the theater for the the solo movie? Straight up, Disney fucked up. This announcement was in bad taste. They waited less than 4 months after his passing and announced not only are they going to start filming next year but T'Challas out.

Under honoring a character Chad fought hard to get to the big screen. No ones allowed to play the character. Sure it sounds nice when they pretty up the words but they have just said that this character is not important enough to continue and what he brings to the table isn't worth exploring. They say they want to Honor Chad while ignoring WHAT Chad was doing which was setting this character up for others to continue what he started and continue to inspire millions like he did.

You say they love the rich culture.. but not the Character, the Man who inspires greatness, the KING who inspired that greatness. Name another black hero that even matches up to T'Challas stature. No drugs, no baby mamas no gangs, or pimps, a good man with a good heart. People love Cap Because he represents american values. Well people love T'Challa Because he represents Black excellence and they took that character away from us because hey wanted to rush announcements and not let people have time (fans and the crew alike) to properly mourn

Quoted for truth.

Unfortunately, a lot of people just don’t get the significance of having T’Challa on screen and just how damaging it is to simply shift focus of the franchise to “World of Wakanda”. A lot of non-blacks just don’t understand that positive black male representation isn’t as common as they think so removing one of the best for the foreseeable future isn’t a good move.

Roles like T’Challa are basically once in a generation, why not give other young black actors the chance to prove themselves in roles like these? Marvel should have simply delayed BP 2 and waited longer to re-cast the character. No character should be tied to one actor especially when we are talking about the first male African superhero on the big screen (the X-men already gave us Storm but I’m not sure where exactly she was meant to be from until X-men Apocalypse).

[Overhazard]

Quoted for truth.

Unfortunately, a lot of people just don’t get the significance of having T’Challa on screen and just how damaging it is to simply shift focus of the franchise to “World of Wakanda”. A lot of non-blacks just don’t understand that positive black male representation isn’t as common as they think so removing one of the best for the foreseeable future isn’t a good move.

Roles like T’Challa are basically once in a generation, why not give other young black actors the chance to prove themselves in roles like these? Marvel should have simply delayed BP 2 and waited longer to re-cast the character. No character should be tied to one actor especially when we are talking about the first male African superhero on the big screen (the X-men already gave us Storm but I’m not sure where exactly she was meant to be from until X-men Apocalypse).

I think that part of this problem stems from the fact that a lot of people see representation as a numbers game and that's it.

"Black boys don't need Black Panther anymore, Chadwick was too ICONIC, besides they have War Machine and Falcon!" -Smug tweeter with an anime avatar.

It isn't the same. It really isn't. Chadwick did do a great job, but his live action T'Challa is the only one we've ever seen, outside of feelings, there is no reason why there can't be a recast, why T'Challa's story can't continue. It doesn't make sense, "We respect Chadwick too much to recast the role he made iconic, but we're still going to make the sequel to the movie he helped make iconic."

Ha-freakin-rumph.

[Marvell2100]

I think that part of this problem stems from the fact that a lot of people see representation as a numbers game and that's it.

"Black boys don't need Black Panther anymore, Chadwick was too ICONIC, besides they have War Machine and Falcon!" -Smug tweeter with an anime avatar.

It isn't the same. It really isn't. Chadwick did do a great job, but his live action T'Challa is the only one we've ever seen, outside of feelings, there is no reason why there can't be a recast, why T'Challa's story can't continue. It doesn't make sense, "We respect Chadwick too much to recast the role he made iconic, but we're still going to make the sequel to the movie he helped make iconic."

Ha-freakin-rumph.

Yeah, some people think that Black characters have to take turns in the spotlight and that characters can't be pushed simultaneously.

And I've said it so many times but it's worth repeating: T'Challa is not dead.

[chief12d]

I think that part of this problem stems from the fact that a lot of people see representation as a numbers game and that's it.

"Black boys don't need Black Panther anymore, Chadwick was too ICONIC, besides they have War Machine and Falcon!" -Smug tweeter with an anime avatar.

It isn't the same. It really isn't. Chadwick did do a great job, but his live action T'Challa is the only one we've ever seen, outside of feelings, there is no reason why there can't be a recast, why T'Challa's story can't continue. It doesn't make sense, "We respect Chadwick too much to recast the role he made iconic, but we're still going to make the sequel to the movie he helped make iconic."

Ha-freakin-rumph.

Ekie said it best. Disney is sad enough to refuse to recast (potentially for over a decade) but they’re greedy enough to push out a film with the title of the character Boseman made popular. Obviously Coogler had to sign off on that, but in full admittance of my bias I can’t help but shake the feeling this is about Disney choosing to avoid the backlash that comes with recasting so soon while wanting to reap the profits of the IP he was the face of.

Which is their prerogative, they own the IP, but it does seem shady that they’re basically moving on with BP2 like the man didn’t just die but at the same time saying T’Challa and Boseman are too important to recast (once again, potentially for a long ass time). Which does make me question how this film is going to be produced and the genuineness of Disney’s motivations. I never give Disney (or any company) the benefit of the doubt, especially on matters as sensitive as this. Everyone thought CDPR had consumers interests at heart until we got Cyberpunk. I hope that BP2 isn’t a shit show and that this is isn’t just desperate corporate politics.

[Marvell2100]

Ekie said it best. Disney is sad enough to refuse to recast (potentially for over a decade) but they’re greedy enough to push out a film with the title of the character Boseman made popular. Obviously Coogler had to sign off on that, but in full admittance of my bias I can’t help but shake the feeling this is about Disney choosing to avoid the backlash that comes with recasting so soon while wanting to reap the profits of the IP he was the face of.

Which is their prerogative, they own the IP, but it does seem shady that they’re basically moving on with BP2 like the man didn’t just die but at the same time saying T’Challa and Boseman are too important to recast (once again, potentially for a long ass time). Which does make me question how this film is going to be produced and the genuineness of Disney’s motivations. I never give Disney (or any company) the benefit of the doubt, especially on matters as sensitive as this. Everyone thought CDPR had consumers interests at heart until we got Cyberpunk. I hope that BP2 isn’t a shit show and that this is isn’t just desperate corporate politics.

I'm sure there would be backlash over recasting but they risk losing a lot more by eliminating T'Challa altogether imo.

[Redjack]

this whole convo breaks my heart.

all these people waiting so long for some light, just some light, to shine on them. and now we're seeing so many people fighting over the shreds because they know no one else really cares.

the same blindness that made the historic success of BP 1 a surprise to everyone but us is what's governing these feelings now. both in the audience and in the halls of power.

i am truly sorry for all of us.

[Marvell2100]

If Marvel Studious wants to do something to honor and prolong Chadwick's legacy why not create scholarships and achievement awards in his name.

This feels like they aren't giving opportunities to other actors like they gave to Chadwick. How is that showing respect for his work? Sometimes this stuff just feels surreal.

[chief12d]

I'm sure there would be backlash over recasting but they risk losing a lot more by eliminating T'Challa altogether imo.

100% agree, the backlash to a recasting would’ve been prominent for a few days but it’s one of those things that people would’ve come to accept by the release. #Shuriwasrobbed and #Disneydoesntcare would trend on Twitter for a few days but most of the controversy would’ve evaporated through a mixture of marketing and time. Doubly so if the actor they selected was reasonably well known and respected by audiences. But to be fair the same could be said of choosing not to recast.

The truth is no matter what most people would come to accept Disney’s choice by the time BP2 releases. The real question is how much engagement and audience retention will there be without T’Challa as the anchor? How will toy sales be impacted? Can they transition to an ensemble and have it be praised by critics? These are the profit driven concerns and a lot of that is tied to the quality of the film itself. If Coogler can put together a highly profitable, well regarded film that supports other profitable revenue streams we need to accept that there’s enough evidence the BP IP doesn’t need T’Challa. And by highly profitable I mean the film puts up a box office performance rivaling that of the first film with toy sales and other merchandise doing roughly as well.

[Dboi654]

I'm sure there would be backlash over recasting but they risk losing a lot more by eliminating T'Challa altogether imo.

Yes, they will be initial backlash but after a while, if the actor embodies what the character T'Challa is then people will warm up to him.

Daniel Craig faced a huge backlash from fans when he was cast as James Bond to the point of having a website specifically dedicated to bash him but here we are 16 years later.