Chadwick Boseman had signed up for an entire franchise of films when he was cast as Black Panther, but he was only able to play him for a few movies before passing away in 2020.
There was a movement to #RecastTChalla for a while, but Marvel Studios had decided to kill the character off in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, with Shuri (Letitia Wright) taking over as the BP. With the direction of the third movie unclear, rumor is going around that Marvel is already planning for their next T’Challa.
According to The InSneider (via @HollywoodHandle), Marvel Studios is already in the process of finding a new T’Challa for the next Avengers movies, and he could possibly lead Black Panther 3. It’s not clear how exactly they want to pull this off, but Wakanda Forever had already sowed the seeds of the next T’Challa by revealing that he and Nakia had a son of the same name.
Though they could just easily have T’Challa Jr. take over, his arc would have to go back to zero, being a younger Black Panther that has to rule over Wakanda. With Secret Wars allegedly tackling a multiverse storyline, it’s possible that they can just reset by the end of the film and have a new actor take on the role of the same T’Challa that was introduced in Civil War.
Then again, I’m not sure how Letitia Wright is going to feel being cast as the new Panther, then having it be taken away from her in the next film.
Personally, I was all for recasting after Boseman’s death, but it’s kind of understandable how Marvel Studios and the filmmakers had to deal with Boseman’s passing; while at the same time being under pressure to deliver another blockbuster film.
We don’t know what the future holds for Black Panther, but I can’t wait to see T’Challa back on the big screen.
