Originally Posted by
Blind Wedjat
Nah, there's a difference between having this discussion like a sensible person, and having this discussion without taking your fanboy goggles off.
Immediately demanding a recast barely a month after an actual human being and the actor involved has died is entitled. Saying that actors who might not want to replace said actor out of respect, potential discomfort or backlash, or controversy "need to man up" or are "cowards" is entitled. We talk about giving black men the same as white men. Why don't we allow black men access to the same emotions and self expression? Having emotions makes you less of a man now?
And a lot of this comparisons don't make sense. Sean Connery is very much alive and did everything he wanted to do with James Bond and left. Christopher Reeve completed four Superman movies long before he had the horse riding accident and later died. His Superman was only recast 19 years after. Heath Ledger was never slated to be a major part of the Nolan Batman trilogy (and the Joker wasn't an aspirational character). Terrence Howard and Edward Norton were simply actors that had disagreements with the studio. Replacing them was easily, especially since those roles were supporting and didn't have a particular impact with anybody.
The closest hypothetical examples I can think of would be if Heaven forbid, Chris Evans passed after Age of Ultron or if Tom Holland passed after Endgame. I can guarantee you that many people would call for Bucky and Miles Morales to take up the mantle. It will suck for Cap and Peter fans but it's not too farfetched or even wrong to have that idea. The closest real example to this is Paul Walker, who died while the Fast & Furious franchise was still going on and was becoming a global phenomenon. Yet, Brian wasn't recast. His character was written off.
Yet none of these examples have the cultural significance Black Panther had for what it meant to an underrepresented racial minority. That is a lot of pressure to put on a new person.
Some of y'all are acting like recasting is the easiest thing in the world. Who are the choices then? John David Washington? Probably would be hesitant to accept it, for obvious reasons, but also because of who his father is and the link he had with Chadwick. Personally, he's not proven himself as an actor to me yet (let's not pretend like he got a lead role in a Spike Lee and Christopher Nolan movie purely out of merit). Aldis Hodge? Good choice that's no longer available. Mahershala Ali? The perfect choice in my opinion but isn't available either (unless he somehow quits Blade). Every other actor aside from these isn't available, is a downgrade or would be miscast. So what exactly are the options right now?