Black Panther massively exceeded expectations at the box office earlier this year, ultimately grossing over $1.3 billion. While solo movies for characters like Ant-Man and Doctor Strange were successful, it's clear that audiences have embraced T'Challa in a big way and that's why it was so damn surprising to see him die along with all those other heroes at the end of Avengers: Infinity War last month.
During a recent interview, screenwriters Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus weighed in on the decision to kill off the King of Wakanda and the former made it clear that their decision came long before Black Panther's solo movie ended up being such a massive critical and commercial hit.
"First of all, we would do it all over again," he explained. "But remember, when we’re writing [Infinity War], and even shooting, there is no Black Panther movie. We don’t know it’s going to be so good, so effective, so resonant. And we had to treat all these characters the same. People who leave us [in Infinity War] are the leads of their own franchises. And Black Panther’s no different."
"We wanted that thing that happens at the end of that movie to have as much impact as possible," he added. "If you’re very carefully getting rid of your supporting cast, then it does seem like you’re pulling your punch." It's a fair point as none of us could have ever suspected that T'Challa would die alongside the likes of Star-Lord, Spider-Man, Groot, and The Falcon. What do you guys think?