Why Kevin Feige didn’t recast Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa in Black Panther 2

Black Panther producer Kevin Feige has said they are not thinking about recasting for late actor Chadwick Boseman’s role in the franchise after the actor died of colon cancer in 2020.

He was 43. Kevin said they want to honour his legacy instead in the film’s sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

The film’s sequel titled Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will throw more light on T’Challa’s sister Shuri (played by Letitia Wright) and will show the leaders of the kingdom of Wakanda fighting to protect their nation from invading forces in the wake of King T’Challa’s death.

Chadwick’s breakthrough performance in 2018 film Black Panther made it the first superhero movie to be nominated for best picture at the Academy Awards. He died at 43.

Talking about honouring Chadwick’s legacy, Kevin told Empire in an interview, “It just felt like it was much too soon to recast. Stan Lee always said that Marvel represents the world outside your window. And we had talked about how, as extraordinary and fantastical as our characters and stories are, there’s a relatable and human element to everything we do. And Ryan poured that into the story.”

“The conversations were entirely about, yes, ‘What do we do next?’ And how could the legacy of Chadwick – and what he had done to help Wakanda and the Black Panther become these incredible, aspirational, iconic ideas – continue? That’s what it was all about,” Kevin said about the film’s sequel.

Directed by Ryan Coogler, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will also introduce Riri Williams (played by Dominique Thorne), the teenage genius who becomes the hero Ironheart by creating a suit of armor that rivals the one built by Tony Stark. Variety reports that the film is scheduled to hit theatres on November 11 this year.

Actor Letitia Wright, who became a Marvel breakout with her performance in Black Panther as T’Challa’s sister Shuri, has revealed that she felt her late co-star Chadwick Boseman’s presence while making the highly anticipated sequel. Letitia is set to reprise her role in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which was filmed after Chadwick’s death.