Marvel is rumored to be recasting Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa before Black Panther 3

Of all the thorns Kevin Feige and the Marvel Cinematic Universe has faced over the years, perhaps none have been more significant than… The tragic death of “Black Panther” star Chadwick Boseman In 2020. Although many were surprised by his secret battle with cancer for several years, director Ryan Coogler and his creative team wasted no time in turning what became “Wakanda Forever” into a feature-length celebration of the actor’s life and the void he left behind. With his departure. That meant acknowledging T’Challa’s death through an in-universe explanation and passing the mantle on to his supporting cast (namely his sister Shuri, played by Letitia Wright). Instead of recasting the character and moving forward with Coogler’s original plans for the sequel. This choice seems to set up how the MCU will approach the “Black Panther” franchise in the coming years… but, if it’s to be believed, a new rumor may add a whole new problem.

in Jeff Snyder’s latest newsletter from The InSneiderthe scoop claims that the studio appears to be rethinking T’Challa’s future in the MCU. Although it’s important to note that Marvel offered no comment on the report and that Snyder himself phrased much of this as “based on what I’m hearing from agency sources,” the rumors center around the idea that a heavy focus on moving forward in the multiverse increases… The possibility that Marvel might be keen to recast T’Challa with another black actor. As Schneider explains:

“In fact, I heard that an actor was offered the role (of T’Challa) last fall, two months after (Robert Downey Jr.’s) big reveal at Comic-Con, but they turned it down, not wanting to jeopardize their career momentum by… Stepping into Boseman’s giant shoes, which may be too big to fill, even for the most talented black actors in Hollywood.

Are Shuri’s days as our newest Black Panther really numbered? This seems to be the main takeaway from Jeff Snyder’s latest report, but there may be a lot of room for interpretation once we start reading between the lines. For Snyder’s part, he goes on to say that any reluctance on the part of the actors to accept the role is only a temporary concern: “But rest assured, there will be someone out there willing to say ‘yes’ and praise Boseman for his performance.” It is unknown if Marvel has any Plans to include T’Challa in upcoming blockbuster films like “Avengers: Doomsday” or “Avengers: Secret War,” but the report states that “it’s fair to assume that whoever is chosen will be… The character will reprise the role in Black Panther 3.“

But what if that’s not all exactly apparently? Snyder seems pretty confident that the T’Challa his sources are referring to actually means Chadwick Boseman’s character, but remember that “Wakanda Forever” introduced his infant son and Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) in a post-credits scenealso named T’Challa. Couldn’t it be possible (if not likely) that all this talk about recasting T’Challa actually refers to a mature version of this character instead? This is certainly in keeping with the implications of that particular scene and “Wakanda Forever” in general, which relied heavily on the idea of ​​honoring Boseman’s legacy through the characters closest to him.

Of course, it’s also worth noting that the decision to retire the character from live-action (he’s appeared in a few episodes of Marvel’s animated series “What If…” since then) came with a certain amount of trepidation among Marvel fans. T’Challa is a very popular character in the comics and an argument could be made that keeping him in the mix throughout the MCU would be another way to honor Boseman. For now, we’ll have to wait and see what “Black Panther 3” will be like, whichever one it will be Denzel Washington will likely appear in an unknown role.