The Big Reason Marvel Refused To Recast Black Panther

Many know that Chadwick Boseman never got to film the second movie of the Black Panther franchise, so after he died of colon cancer back in 2020, the MCU fans were wondering if Marvel Studios would replace Boseman with another actor or continue the franchise without the lead character.

Marvel has chosen not to recast Black Panther, which got mixed reactions from fans. Recently, in his interview with Empire Kevin Feige, the president of Marvel Studios, talked about that subject again and explained why T'Challa was not recast.

"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. The world is still processing the loss of Chad. And Ryan poured that into the story," Feige said.

According to Feige, there was an active discussion in Marvel Studios about what to do next to honor the legacy of Chadwick Boseman, who took a prominent part in bringing the iconic character of Black Panther to life. The decision to not recast T'Challa was made out of respect for Boseman and his fans.

Though some MCU fans think that continuing the franchise without the title character could be difficult, others believe that the decision simply could not be different.

"Boseman originated the role and worked on it since Day 1 (the idea of using Xhosa to be the language of Wakandans was his idea in Civil War and it became a central part of the Black Panther movie), giving it his all while suffering from cancer and preparing for the upcoming film till just a week before he died... In his obituary, Coogler mentioned how he spent a year imagining words for T'Challa that now he would never say. Would it be smarter to recast? Maybe. But can they do it emotionally? I know I could not have if I was in their place," a fan wrote on Reddit.