Marvel will not recast the role of King T’Challa in the upcoming film “Black Panther 2” to honor the legacy of Chadwick Boseman, the actor who played the role before he died this August, Disney announced Thursday. Instead, the film will “explore the world of Wakanda,” the fictional country in which the first film took place.
“Honoring Chadwick Boseman’s legacy & portrayal of T’Challa, Marvel Studios will not recast the character, but will explore the world of Wakanda and the rich characters introduced in the first film,” Disney wrote on Twitter. The company said Black Panther 2 will premiere on July 8, 2022 and will be written and directed by Ryan Coogler, who directed the first film.
Boseman died on August 30 after a four-year battle with colon cancer, which he had not publicly disclosed. He had been undergoing treatment for the cancer while filming the first “Black Panther” film. The cancer had progressed to stage four at the time of his death.
Since August 30, Marvel Studios has kept a pinned message on the top of its Twitter account stating that Boseman “will always be our King.”
Kevin Feige, the producer of the Black Panther movies, addressed the decision during a livestream of Disney’s annual investor day on Thursday.
Feige said that he wanted to “acknowledge the devastating loss of a dear friend and member of the Marvel Studios family,” Deadline reported.
“Chadwick Boseman was an immensely talented actor and an inspirational individual who affected all of our lives professionally and personally,” Feige added. “His portrayal of T’Challa the Black Panther is iconic and transcends iteration of the character in any other medium from Marvel’s past.”
Other upcoming Marvel Studios projects include “Thor: Love and Thunder,” the series “I Am Groot,” “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” “She-Hulk,” “Hawkeye,” “Captain Marvel 2,” and more.