Black Panther fans have once again called for Chadwick Boseman to be replaced in any upcoming Marvel properties that feature the popular character.
The hashtag #RecastTchalla started trending on Twitter after Marvel dropped the latest trailer for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the follow-up to the 2018 film which saw Boseman play the titular character.
The actor starred as T'Challa in the blockbuster, and he quickly became synonymous with the Black Panther character, but Marvel chose not to recast him in the sequel after Boseman died of colon cancer in 2020.
In the new trailer released on Monday, it confirmed T'Challa's death with a funeral procession and then the final shots teased T'Challa's sister, Shuri (Letitia Wright), taking on the Black Panther identity.
Since his death, Marvel fans were concerned the studio planned to kill off T'Challa in Wakanda Forever in what the studio argued was a gesture meant to honor Boseman, but some fans have always disputed the decision.
Campaigns to recast the character have been around for years, but fans' demands resurfaced after the second trailer for Wakanda Forever was released.
One becomes a Black Panther in the Marvel films—and chieftain of the nation of Wakanda—only after the previous Black Panther dies, in T'Challa's case he replaced his father, T'Chaka, who was killed in Captain America: Civil War.
The Black Panther hopeful does not automatically get the title and has to battle some of Wakanda's most fierce warriors and then have the Heart-Shaped Herb applied to their body.
If they survive these trials, they are deemed fit to become the Black Panther.
While some fans are lamenting the loss of T'Challa as the Black Panther following Boseman's death, there is plenty of precedent in Marvel comic lore for Shuri to become the Black Panther.
"Shuri spent much of her life living in the shadows of men," according to Marvel.
"However, after working to stop an invasion of Wakanda and helping her brother recover after Doctor Doom nearly killed him, Shuri stepped into the spotlight and became the Black Panther herself."
In the comics, T'Challa even lets Shuri remain the Black Panther until he recovers from his injuries.
But this precedence does not seem to be enough for fans who lamented the loss of T'Challa and suggested a number of actors to replace Boseman, including John Boyega (Star Wars) or John David Washington.
"This movie has zero appeal for me. Erasing the main character from his own franchise is one of the most egregious things you can do. Profiting off of the Death of a real-life person is even worse," wrote ZentaroMiura.
Movie critic Emmanuel Noisette has spearheaded the "Recast T'Challa" campaign and even launched a Change.org petition aimed at Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige.
The petition has 68,000 signatures at the time of writing and he told Newsweek he was inspired to start the campaign after Marvel revealed in December 2020 it would not recast the role of T'Challa.
"It said 'we will not recast the role of T'Challa,' plain, point, period. There was no conditions, it didn't say, 'we're not going to recast for now' [and] it didn't say it was too soon," he said.
That news really upset Noisette, who got busy researching Boseman's interviews to find evidence the actor would be comfortable being replaced because he understood T'Challa's cultural significance.
"This is a character that was created in 1966 and he was created during the Civil Rights era when racial tensions were high. He was specifically created for the sake of black representation," he said.
"The whole point is T'Challa is supposed to be a cornerstone of representation, not a stepping stone... we want the same compassion, inspiration and the same energy that's given to white fictional characters to be given to him."
Noisette pointed to how many other popular franchises, such as James Bond, Batman and Spider-Man, actually benefit from recasting which creates excitement and buzz for the titles.
"We don't want for black characters to get the treatment of subtraction and substitution, that is not how you grow in something that is already lacking when it comes to representation," he explained.
He also added that Boseman would "want us to see the significance and the importance of T'Challa and everything that he represents."
Noisette is very clear that they are not calling for the immediate recast of T'Challa, nor is it about preventing another character from becoming Black Panther. It is instead "asking for the portrayal of T'Challa to be allowed to continue in the MCU."
"To put this character on hold, that's fine. But we really want you not to go and kill him, because it does kind of perpetuate a lot of the unnecessary trauma by making people double down and relive Chadwick's passing through the character," Noisette said.
The film critic pointed out the amount of times T'Challa has died in the MCU—in Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War—and that he had been dead longer than he had served as the King of Wakanda.
"I don't believe that it is a good way to honor a character by making their legacy riddled with death," he said.
But Twitter user Digitalslop was one of many to argue the backlash was rooted in sexism.
"The #RecastTChalla discourse is rooted in misogynoir. Shuri is the Black Panther and T'Challa is dead. Argue with ya mammy," they wrote.
Some fans even argued that having two Black Panther stories told on film would have an invaluable impact.
"I love Shuri. We can have two Black Panthers just like in the comics! How powerful will that be? Strong Black brother strong Black sister Protecting they lands," wrote johnnyrasta420.
Noisette addressed the accusations of sexism from some fans, saying that he advocated for more screen time for the female characters, "even if they take the mantle."
"I've continuously said that this is not a campaign of bigotry, it is not a campaign that supports misogyny or sexism in any way, shape or form," he said.
"I have championed for both Shuri and T'Chala, being on the big screen together, because just like in the comics, both of them ended up being Black Panthers, at the same time, both of them broke through tradition, and actually showed a higher level of black representation that I don't think we've ever seen before."
He added: "I want a strong black male and a strong black woman. I want both of them supporting each other on screen, because I don't think you can have a higher level of representation than that".
Marvel Studios president Feige explained last week why they chose not to recast T'Challa for Wakanda Forever.
"It just felt like it was much too soon to recast," Feige told Empire magazine.
"Stan Lee always said that Marvel represents the world outside your window.
"And we had talked about how, as extraordinary and fantastical as our characters and stories are, there's a relatable and human element to everything we do. The world is still processing the loss of Chad. And Ryan [Coogler, the film's director] poured that into the story."
Wakanda Forever sees many of the major characters return including Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), M'Baku (Winston Duke), Okoye (Danai Gurira), War Dog Nakia (Lupita Nyong'o) and Everett Ross (Martin Freeman).
They join forces to fight to protect Wakanda from intervening world powers in the aftermath of T'Challa's death.
The new film also introduces Tenoch Huerta as Namor, king of a hidden undersea nation, and also stars Dominique Thorne, Michaela Coel, Mabel Cadena and Alex Livinalli.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Shannon Power is a Greek-Australian reporter, but now calls London home. They have worked as across three continents in print, ... Read more
