Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

[ZuLuLu]

How is the role dying with Chadwick. There literally was a Black Panther shown in the trailer. This is weird.

People are referring to the role of T’Challa dying with Chadwick not Black Panther.

[Scott Taylor]

People are referring to the role of T’Challa dying with Chadwick not Black Panther.

Ok but the two are one and the same. I get that T'Challa is the main Black Panther and has comic history, relationships with other heroes and so on. But hey, this is an MCU where they have killed Tony Stark, Steve Rogers is an old man out of action, there are no Inhumans and Dr. Strange basically never calls anyone else ever. It seems odd to focus on "oh nos T'Challa is gone you have ruined my childhood" in light of the state of the MCU.

The MCU is practically all legacy heroes right now.

[ZeonsSilverStar]

If you don’t want to see the movie that’s cool, but let’s remember that no one wanted this. The writers and director are respectfully trying to navigate around a terrible situation.

You are right about them needing more black male heroes but they also need more black female heroes and let’s not forget that there is still a Black Panther in this movie.

Oh I understand completely but I the decision to not recast was made in haste due to grief. What's done is done though.

Never said we don't need more black female heroes but this isn't, or shouldn't be a zero-sum game.T'Challa and the women of Wakanda can shine together but that's no longer the case. I hope everyone keeps this mentality when the new Captain America movie drops or if Tom Holland retires from the role and Sony/Marvel decide to bring in Miles.

[80sbaby]

Ok but the two are one and the same. I get that T'Challa is the main Black Panther and has comic history, relationships with other heroes and so on. But hey, this is an MCU where they have killed Tony Stark, Steve Rogers is an old man out of action, there are no Inhumans and Dr. Strange basically never calls anyone else ever. It seems odd to focus on "oh nos T'Challa is gone you have ruined my childhood" in light of the state of the MCU.

The MCU is practically all legacy heroes right now.

The difference is that both Tony and Steve had complete arcs and we saw quite a lot of them. It's not weird for fans of T'Challa to want more from him when it was cut short due to a real life tragedy and not something organic to the story being told. This shouldn't be such a hard concept to grasp, really.

[Scott Taylor]

The difference is that both Tony and Steve had complete arcs and we saw quite a lot of them. It's not weird for fans of T'Challa to want more from him when it was cut short due to a real life tragedy and not something organic to the story being told. This shouldn't be such a hard concept to grasp, really.

Its all good. A boycott is really hard to grasp for me, though, for many reasons. I plan to just support the movie, no matter what. But I'm sure that attitude on my part would also be hard for some to grasp, whereas to me it shouldn't be such a hard concept to grasp either.

[Colossus1980]

I'm also on the side of casting a new T'Challa. Reading the thoughts of other posters from the T'Challa appreciation thread I agree in some ways that everyone that worked with Boseman has used the sequel as their personal tribute to the man. They should have put their emotions aside and recasted BP. It is very interesting IMO to read their POV.

[80sbaby]

Its all good. A boycott is really hard to grasp for me, though, for many reasons. I plan to just support the movie, no matter what. But I'm sure that attitude on my part would also be hard for some to grasp, whereas to me it shouldn't be such a hard concept to grasp either.

Nobody here has had any issue with your stance though? I even share it so that's not really an apt comparison. Only one side is being questioned for their choices here.

[80sbaby]

I'm also on the side of casting a new T'Challa. Reading the thoughts of other posters from the T'Challa appreciation thread I agree in some ways that everyone that worked with Boseman has used the sequel as their personal tribute to the man. They should have put their emotions aside and recasted BP. It is very interesting IMO to read their POV.

Eh, I don't think we should tell other people how they need to deal with personal grief (so long as it's not hurting themselves or others, of course.) I also find it ironic some people have such strong feelings about a fictional character passing on that they'll boycott the film, but can't seem to understand why an actual person's death might affect the people he was friends/worked with to the point they don't want to just replace him.

[Frontier]

I just hope they don't make Doom into T'Challa's killer just to bump up Doom's credibility from something caused by the actors' own death. Although there probably isn't a good way to handle T'Challa's death.

I’m not really sure why people think Ryan Coogler (or Joe Robert Cole) would have something against strong Black men, but there were four in the first movie - one died in the movie, one died in real life, and one committed to a different movie. That could be why Winston Duke is the only prominent Black guy that we see in the trailer. The four main Black women were apparently all available and came back, but it’s not like T’Challa and W’Kabi were spitefully written out because Coogler wanted to marginalize Black men. I guess he could’ve created new characters but they’re introducing a whole new nation to the MCU, so I can see why he’d focus on the heroes audiences know.

It's weird how so many black men in Wakanda, comics or otherwise, seem to either die or vanish...

[Colossus1980]

Eh, I don't think we should tell other people how they need to deal with personal grief (so long as it's not hurting themselves or others, of course.) I also find it ironic some people have such strong feelings about a fictional character passing on that they'll boycott the film, but can't seem to understand why an actual person's death might affect the people he was friends/worked with to the point they don't want to just replace him.

Definitely they should do a tribute to Boseman either at the beginning or end of the movie or both. But the director and people who worked with him on the first movie are letting their grief cloud their judgement. Black Panther is T'Challa, and to have no T'Challa seems wrong. IMO I'm tired of franchises replacing heroes, not actors. Steve Rogers is Captain America, not Sam Wilson. Tony Stark is Iron Man, not RiRi(although she goes by Iron Heart but same thing to me). T'Challa is Black Panther, not Shuri.

[80sbaby]

Definitely they should do a tribute to Boseman either at the beginning or end of the movie or both. But the director and people who worked with him on the first movie are letting their grief cloud their judgement. Black Panther is T'Challa, and to have no T'Challa seems wrong. IMO I'm tired of franchises replacing heroes, not actors. Steve Rogers is Captain America, not Sam Wilson. Tony Stark is Iron Man, not RiRi(although she goes by Iron Heart but same thing to me). T'Challa is Black Panther, not Shuri.

See my issue is saying it's "clouding their judgement." That's a subjective thing. I want them to recast T'Challa too but there are very real world concerns here. It's not a simple situation. There's a lot of the audience members who would also not want them to recast. It isn't simply grief that made them come to this conclusion. As someone noted above, there's no clear-cut "right" solution her. Everyone is going with their feelings, including you and I who want the character recast. Hell your last sentence is based purely on subjective emotions and not objective facts

[inisideguy]

See my issue is saying it's "clouding their judgement." That's a subjective thing. I want them to recast T'Challa too but there are very real world concerns here. It's not a simple situation. There's a lot of the audience members who would also not want them to recast. It isn't simply grief that made them come to this conclusion. As someone noted above, there's no clear-cut "right" solution her. Everyone is going with their feelings, including you and I who want the character recast.

I think there are many fans discounting the people who actually worked with him and put this movie together. The just get over it thing is selfish to me.

[Scott Taylor]

I'm also on the side of casting a new T'Challa. Reading the thoughts of other posters from the T'Challa appreciation thread I agree in some ways that everyone that worked with Boseman has used the sequel as their personal tribute to the man. They should have put their emotions aside and recasted BP. It is very interesting IMO to read their POV.

It is interesting to see the cast appreciation, too. Everyone obviously really looked up to Chadwick, as did I, and has trouble separating the man from the character. Its hard to blame people for not being able to put their emotions aside. Part of what makes emotions so powerful and grounding is exactly that they are hard to shake. Disney could have come in an recast. As could Coogler or any number of people up the chain. They could have stepped on a bunch of actor's emotions and hope they deal with it and don't leave the project. It seems like at a minimum it could have tainted the project.

We can still have T'Challa at a future date. This doesn't have to be the end of the line for the character.

Personally I'm glad this conversation is happening. I harbor no ill will towards those who wanted recasting in this movie.

[Somecrazyaussie]

Although I respect that Chadwick’s brother said that (after filming concluded I think), it doesn’t mean that the creatives behind the camera would be comfortable with recasting

I think it would have been incredibly strange to feature Joker in TDKR played by a different actor. In fact, I understand Nolan had loose plans to use Ledger in the sequel, but then decided not to after his passing. You could say there was much more story to tell for Joker, but they decided against it. No one is saying that there can never be another T’Challa on screen, played by another actor. It just wouldn’t be right to replace Chadwick in this iteration.

The MCU as we know it won’t last forever, there will be rebooted Black Panther films in the future. I’m sure they may even consider bringing a new actor in via the multiverse after Secret Wars. We’ve had multiple different actors for Joker since Ledger died, because they existed in different worlds. Black Panther will get a new film series eventually, and T’Challa will be represented by a new actor.

The MCU won't be rebooted for at least another 15 years. So they keep the T'Challa on ice until then?

I get recasting might make them uncomfortable. But honouring his hard work in bringing that character to the screen can also take the form of ensuring it carried on after his passing. For me, it is incredibly short-sighted. We had time with Tony and Steve. But T'Challa was only getting started.

I don't mind Shuri (never got the appeal myself). I'll still see this. But by refusing to recast they've effectively closed that off until the MCU gets rebooted.

[Somecrazyaussie]

Its all good. A boycott is really hard to grasp for me, though, for many reasons. I plan to just support the movie, no matter what. But I'm sure that attitude on my part would also be hard for some to grasp, whereas to me it shouldn't be such a hard concept to grasp either.

Personally, I'm not against Shuri taking over. But T'Challa had much more potential storywise and now the character is sidelined until the MCU gets rebooted. I am still going to see it. No boycott on my end. But if they want the MCU to last, audiences need to get comfortable with recasting. We've had multiple Batmen. No one bats an eyelid there. They shouldn't for any other character. Except for a select few.