Ever since his tragic passing last year, fans have wondered how Marvel will approach the absence of lead star Chadwick Boseman in the upcoming sequel Black Panther 2. While many are emphatically against bringing back Boseman’s T’Challa with the use of CGI, actress Angela Bassett, who plays the former Wakandan queen and T’Challa’s mother in the first Black Panther, sounds a little more open to the idea. While Bassett admits that she had not considered the idea before, she does believe that there could be an in-universe explanation for why T’Challa is now a computer-generated creation.
“That’s interesting. Well I had not thought about that idea, but of course it is Wakanda and they are, in terms of technology, they are so far ahead of the rest of the world that they would be able to bring some of that.”
Of course, this is not to say that she necessarily wants this to happen, with the actress later calling Chadwick Boseman “completely irreplaceable,” echoing a sentiment many have expressed while discussing his role in Black Panther being recast or reimagined with CGI.
While T’Challa’s story had really only just begun, to bring Boseman back with CGI would likely end up feeling shallow and morbid. In any case, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has already confirmed that they will not attempt to recreate Boseman with technology for Black Panther 2, nor will they recast. “We’re not going to have a CG Chadwick and we’re not recasting T’Challa,” Feige stated recently. “Ryan Coogler is working very hard right now on the script with all the respect and love and genius that he has, which gives us great solace, so it was always about furthering the mythology and the inspiration of Wakanda. There’s also the task of honoring and respecting the ongoing learnings and teachings from Chad as well.”
Chadwick Boseman tragically passed away on August 28 at the age of 43. The star of such movies as Black Panther, 42 and Da 5 Bloods had been secretly battling colon cancer for the last four years and died surrounded by his wife and family. Returning director Ryan Coogler had been planning for the sequel to show T’Challa growing as a king, revealing that he had been unaware of the actor’s struggle, and that he had “spent the last year preparing, imagining and writing words for him to say [in the sequel], that we weren’t destined to see”.
In wake the of Boseman’s passing, it has been theorized that Letitia Wright’s Shuri, T’Challa’s genius sister, will have a much more prominent role in the follow-up, perhaps even taking on the mantle of Black Panther much like she does in the comics. While official plot details remain scarce, Narcos: Mexico star Tenoch Huerto is in talks to play the movie’s main antagonist. While the role currently remains a mystery, speculation has already begun to spread that the actor will be portraying Namor the Submariner, with the Atlantean king’s involvement in Black Panther 2 having been rumored for some time.
Principal photography on Black Panther 2 is scheduled to begin in July 2021, with the movie due for release on July 8, 2022. Lupita Nyong’o, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, and Angela Bassett are all expected to return and reprise their roles, with director Ryan Coogler also due to return to helm the project. This comes to us courtesy of Entertainment Tonight.