In Defense of not Recasting Chadwick Boseman

John Donne wrote that no man is an island, and I’d say the same idea can be applied to films. We don’t watch films in a vacuum, but with all the real-world context and expectations we bring into the theater with us. And no recent film has reckoned with the weight of so much meta-textuality as “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” which simultaneously had to be both a classic Marvel blockbuster and memorial to the late Chadwick Boseman, who passed in summer 2020.

The film succeeds at this unenviable task in no large part because the Marvel brain trust decided to not recast Boseman’s starring role as T’Challa following his death. Ever since Boseman passed, there have been ongoing discussions as to whether or not T’Challa should be recast, and those discussions will likely continue long after the release of “Wakanda Forever.” While there are merits to the recasting argument, the specific circumstances of the film create a situation where leaving the role unfilled (for now) was ultimately the best decision.

First and foremost in this discussion is the idea that Marvel generally does not like to recast people, and they have never tried to recast a character as prominent as T’Challa. Yes, they swapped Terrence Howard for Don Cheadle and replaced William Hurt with Harrison Ford after the former’s passing, but those characters were just pieces in a larger ensemble, not franchise stars. The first Black Panther film was built around the sheer charisma of Boseman’s T’Challa, a man who could effortlessly switch between suaveness and kingly grace and disarm with just a smile. Finding someone to check all those boxes would not be an easy task, and the chances of finding an ideal candidate quickly were slim.

Though the Marvel precedent likely influenced the final decision, just as important to consider was the connection audiences had with both Boseman and his character. Audiences deeply cared about Boseman’s T’Challa, and were owed a chance to appropriately close the book on this chapter before immediately moving on.

The situation director Ryan Coogler and the rest of the “Wakanda Forever” production crew faced having to rebuild a sequel without their star closely mirrored the dilemma JJ Abrams faced following Carrie Fisher’s death between “The Last Jedi” and “The Rise of Skywalker.” Coogler and Abrams handled the situation in nearly identical ways, and exploring Abrams’ plan can shed some light on why not recasting Boseman was the correct choice.

While Abrams generally handled most of Episode IX poorly, his treatment of the Fisher situation is one of the more commendable aspects of the film. Splicing in old footage, he was able to give Leia a short plotline and emotional sendoff, providing fans of Leia and Fisher a chance to let go and achieve closure. It’s this mourning through the media, the blurring of the lines between life and art, that makes the Leia parts of “Skywalker” work and why Coogler followed a similar path.

A common argument from the recasting side is that is has been years since Boseman’s death and the last time we saw his T’Challa, and thus it is acceptable to move on. And while fans may have finished mourning Boseman the actor, it is far less likely they have come to grips with the finality of losing his character on screen. Years have passed since we lost Boseman, but “Wakanda Forever” is the first time we’ve returned to that particular corner of the MCU since his death, and to continue on with a recast as if nothing happened would feel disingenuous. 

Indeed, the central thrust of “Wakanda Forever” is watching Shuri, T’Challa’s sister and now heir apparent, grapple with losing her brother and finding her place in this very different world. By not recasting, by having “Wakanda Forever” and its characters reckon with empty space where T’Challa once was, everyone on and off the screen is allowed to sync up emotionally and ultimately get some closure.

And though I stand by the decision to not recast, there are some loopholes that likely will be explored. Whether it be a variant from another universe or a time displaced version of T’Challa II, the Black Panther will undoubtedly return. T’Challa was an important representational touchstone for a generation of kids, and I doubt that opportunity will be squandered for very long.

So will T’Challa be back at some point? Absolutely, but it won’t be this T’Challa, because that’s not what we needed right now. We needed to say goodbye to Boseman and his version of the character, just like we needed to say goodbye to Fisher’s Leia.

In the first Black Panther film, T’Challa says that for Wakandans, “Death is not the end.” Things are a little more final in our world, and Boseman’s death does in fact mark the end of his T’Challa, but there’s a comfort in the finality. Together, fans and the characters have collectively mourned Boseman’s T’Challa and together, they will, one day, be ready to move on.