Disney and Marvel Are "Grappling" With How to Move Forward With BLACK PANTHER Without Chadwick Boseman
The sudden and unexpected death of Chadwick Boseman is still difficult for many of us to comprehend, and fans are still reeling from the news. It was a hard blow, especially for Boseman’s family, friends, and colleagues.
Disney and Marvel are now in a situation where they need to figure out how to proceed with Black Panther without Boseman. THR has shared a report on where the studio currently stands in regards if they should continuing or not continue with the Black Panther franchise in the wake of its star’s death. This is something they are “grappling” with.
One revelation in particular makes the tragic news even harder to take in and process. It’s explained that Boseman "was convinced until about a week before his death that he was going to beat cancer and would be able to gain the weight back for a Black Panther sequel that was scheduled to go into production in March."
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige didn’t even learn about Boseman’s health problems until the night he died via email.
According to inside sources, Disney and Marvel are "processing its grief and its focus at this stage is to pay tribute to Boseman and not on the making of a Black Panther sequel."
Once Marvel is ready to address the future of the Black Panther franchise, they have a few options open to them. However, they are going to have to tread very carefully with it. While they could recast the character as they have done with others in the past, this is a very different and tragic situation, and I doubt that they will even entertain that idea.
Most fans seem to agree that the best way to honor Boseman and T'Challa would be to have his sister Shuri (Letitia Wright) take up the mantle of the Black Panther. That seems like it would be the best way to go. But who knows, maybe they will get creative and do something different and unexpected.
Whatever decisions that Disney and Marvel make regarding the future of Black Panther are going to be met with close scrutiny and possible backlash. But, as of right now, it’s good to know that Disney is going to let it all rest while we all grieve together.