In a great, in depth interview with Scott Tre over at his blog, the martial artist and actor Michael Jai White reveals that he is every bit as passionate about Black Panther as the many fans of his that would love nothing more than to see him in the role..
Scott Tre: If a major studio were to give you two hundred million dollars to make a movie and gave you complete creative control, what kind of movie would you make? What would be the ultimate Michael Jai White star vehicle?
Michael Jai White: If I had two hundred million I’d make like ten movies out of that (laughs). I would definitely make the Paul Robeson story. That would be my drama. I’d make Black Panther. I would do something with Black Panther that would make you forget about Batman. I guarantee you, if I got a chance to do Black Panther, everything would change. The genre would change.
Ok, I'm sold. Someone give this man his money! But seriously, I do think White could be great as T'Challa. We know marvel have commissioned a script and will be moving on the movie at some point but nothing has been heard or even rumored in the way of a director or star. White is only one of many actors to throw their hat in the ring too. Wesley Snipes has been campaigning for the role for years, and both Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje and Djimon Hounsou have also expressed interest.
White has played a comic book character before in
Spawn and appeared in
The Dark Knight as Gambol. You can see him next as Jax in the
Mortal Kombat web series.