Djimon Hounsou has long been a fan favourite to portray Tchalla on the big screen. having voiced the character in a short lived animated series, it seems we can add him to a growing list of big names that are eager to bring The Black Panther to life in live action form. io9 caught up with Hounsou at the premier for Julie Traymor'e The Tempest and the interview reveals some interesting things.
Apparently if a third
Fantastic Four movie ever saw the light of day, Hounsou was director Tim Story's pick to play Black Panther. And, the animated show was made to gauge audience reaction to the character and build interest for a live action movie from Marvel. Housou says:
"That was the idea: using it as a leverage to tell a feature story,". And that he is still "dying" to play him.
I think most of us assume that its only a matter of time before Marvel get moving on a Black Panther film, although there has been no official word on the project as yet. Hounsou seems confident it will happen however , telling io9 that he sees a solo movie happening before a possible appearance in any Avengers sequels. And he certainly seems passionate about it too..
He's a king, he's a man of the people, and he's very powerful — he challenges himself throughout his kingdom, and I think that's rare when the king puts his own life [on the line] and challenges [people] to beat him, in order to see [who's] the best out there... He's really cool. He comes from a world in Africa that is cool, and has all those minerals and it's very exciting. It's just a matter of time for that to be realized.
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Mark Cassidy is a writer, photographer, amateur filmmaker, and Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic from Dublin, Ireland.