For the past few days, one name has been on everyone's lips, from Hollywood to almost every social media platform: Chadwick Boseman. The American actor, known in particular for his role of T'Challa / Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, unfortunately died on August 28th of a colon cancer against which he had been fighting for 4 years. The tweet announcing his death very quickly beat an incredible record, and the tributes haven't stopped pouring in...
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In addition to a great career, Chadwick Boseman will remain forever associated with the role of Black Panther. The first black superhero to have his own film, the Black Panther of the Marvel Universe was more than just a movie. With more than a billion dollars at the world box office, the film that was released in 2018 made the hero into one of the MCU's strongest new faces, so much so that he was destined to become one of the new leaders of the Avengers after the departures of Iron Man and Captain America. But the tragic death of this lead performer may well have changed all that...
A new actor to replace Chadwick Boseman?
After the success of the first movie, it didn't take long for Marvel to officially announce a Black Panther 2, which is scheduled for 2022. But over the last few days, a question has been raised wondering if this sequel will see the light... and if yes, how? The first solution would be a rather widespread practice in the cinema, namely to recast another actor to take over the role. Problem: this is not a small role and, given the character's huge success since the film in 2018 and the tragic circumstances, it seems complicated for Marvel to proceed in this way, at the risk of attracting the wrath of the fans. However, there is no shortage of strong actors capable of taking on such a role, for example; Jamie Foxx, John Boyega or John David Washington, who is currently gaining some notoriety with the success of Tenet.
The multiverse solution?
Should Marvel ever favour this option, two solutions are possible: another actor takes the role of Boseman or a new version of Black Panther is introduced thanks to script pirouettes. We know for example that, besides imagining the return of a certain Wolverine, Doctor Strange 2 will explore in more details the multiverse. A very important fact in the Marvel universe which would allow for example to present us a Black Panther from another timeline, different from the one we knew until then...perhaps even one where Michael B. Jordan's character Erik Killmonger was even raised in Wakanda. An idea that Marvel might consider in order to replace or even bring back Robert Downey Jr to the role of Iron Man!
A female Black Panther?
Among all the possible solutions, one of them seems to have the fans' favours: that Shuri, T'Challa's sister, takes back the Black Panther costume to embody her own version! Incarnated by Letitia Wright, Shuri is the one who makes her brother's outfits and there's no doubt she would be capable of creating her own outfit. A way to perpetuate Chadwick Boseman's legacy as T'Challa and to continue the Wakanda universe introduced in 2018.
