The death of actor Chadwick Boseman sent shockwaves across the globe, and left many MCU fans wondering what the future might hold in store for the Black Panther franchise. The plan had been for the actor to reprise the role of T'Challa in the sequel (titled Black Panther: Wakanda Forever), but the movie is obviously going ahead without Boseman's beloved character.
Recently, there have been rumours ranging from M'Baku taking over the Black Panther mantle to T'Challa's son showing up and Erik Killmonger somehow being brought back. One thing that executive producer and Vice President of Development Nate Moore recently made clear, however, was that we'll never see T'Challa in the MCU again without Boseman here to play him.
"I will say the chances that you see T'Challa in our...I'm not hedging my bets, I'm being quite honest: you will not see T'Challa in the MCU 616 Universe," he confirms in the video below. "We couldn't do it. When Chad passed, it was a real conversation we had with [Ryan] Coogler about, 'What do we do?' It was a fast conversation. It wasn't weeks. It was minutes of we have to figure out how to move that franchise on without that character."
"At no point did we consider recasting," Moore later noted. "The challenge of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is telling a story without T'Challa."
While it's a shame to think that T'Challa's story has ended so soon, it's easy to understand why Marvel Studios felt they couldn't replace Boseman following his death. Originally, the prevailing theory was that Letitia Wright's Shuri would inherit the mantle, but given her controversial views on the COVID-19 vaccine, there are those who believe the character's role will now be reduced somewhat.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is set to be released on November 11, 2022.