Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has been a topic across the world lately. Two years ago, the star of the first Black Panther movie, Chadwick Boseman, died of colon cancer at the age of forty-six. Chadwick Boseman also starred in 42, a movie about Jackie Robinson. He also starred in other Marvel movies such as Captain America: Civil War,  Avengers: Infinity War, and its sequel, Avengers: Endgame in which he portrayed the King of Wakanda, T’Challa. 

Since the first Black Panther did well in theaters and became one of the most loved Marvel movies in the eyes of fans, Chadwick Boseman signed up for the sequel before his unexpected death in the summer of 2020. After his death, Marvel Studios refused to recast T’Challa. Marvel Studios’ president, Kevin Feige, answered in response as to why T’Challa wasn’t being recast, “It just felt like it was too soon. 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. The world is still processing the loss of Chad. And [director and co-writer] Ryan [Coogler] poured that into the story.” He wanted to respect the creator of Marvel Comics, Stan Lee’s wishes of having the stories relate to the real world. The world was, and probably is, still processing Chadwick Boseman’s death. Feige also revealed that Ryan Coogler is putting the loss of Chadwick Boseman into T’Challa in the movie.

Fans have also speculated that Chadwick Boseman was too good to be recast and that Kevin Feige feared that the new actor wouldn’t be as good as Chadwick Boseman. The Sequel, titled Wakanda Forever, started filming about a year after Boseman’s death. According to Marvel Studios, the cast and crew of the sequel visited Boseman’s grave and paid their respects to him before filming.

Will Black Panther: Wakanda Forever fulfill Marvel’s promise of paying tribute to Chadwick Boseman, and what will happen to Chadwick Boseman’s character, T’Challa?