Black Panther Sequel Being "Reshaped" In light Of Lead Actor's Death

As you may know, Chadwick Bosman, who played the MCU's Black Panther, passed away last year from cancer. The Black Panther sequel creators have decided to not recast the character, which presumably means that T'Challa will die and be replaced in the MCU.

I LOVED the Black Panther movie and the MCU version of the character. But as with the Heath Ledger Joker situation, I don't think its disrespectful to recast roles when the actor has passed. But I also don't need to get into all that again. What's more interesting to me here is the potential choice they will make.

The reverence around Bosman is so huge and charged right now that the vibe I'm getting is "no one can replace him" (which again, I'd argue that no one is replacing Bosman merely by playing the same character he played). In fact, I suspect this attitude will carry over into the story. That being the case, I have a wild hypothesis I hope is true: If "no one can replace T'Challa" then everyone must replace him.

With Black Panther already being a sort of "office" rather than an individual, and since I think he is meant to be an inspiration to a community more so than the average superhero, I would love to see the new Black Panther lean into that and have the role constantly moving from character to character. I imagine some special doodad, like the flower that gives him his powers, changing hands constantly, only able to be used by one person at a time. And so Black Panther becomes a rotating who's who of the supporting cast of Wakandans. (And maybe even a resurrected Michael B Jordan??) My mind spins at the possibilities for a climactic scene in which it changes hands, empowering both fan-favorite and unlikely characters who symbolically carry on T'Challa's legacy and values in their brief but dazzling moments of empowerment.

Wakanda ("Wakanda Forever!") was such a big part of who Black Panther was that this makes both story and dramatic sense to me. And honestly, having the role be handed over to any single character at this point will probably seem like a step down.

Any thoughts from you guys on how they could or should handle this?

The biggest theory I've heard is that the title will go to his sister, which I'd be fine with, but I kinda like your idea. It's unusual, but I think it's quite fitting. I'd be up for that.

AdamCollings wrote:The biggest theory I've heard is that the title will go to his sister, which I'd be fine with, but I kinda like your idea. It's unusual, but I think it's quite fitting. I'd be up for that.

On a meta level, this would be cool because the actress is a dedicated Christian, as far as I know. It would be neat for a humble believer to have a voice like that in Hollywood.

On a fan level, I really like her character. But it would really change the vibe unless she goes through something very sobering (like the death of her brother, I guess). As it is, she is a very fun-loving character compared to T'Challa's strait-laced personality.