With the sudden passing of actor Chadwick Boseman this Summer following years of a secretive battle with cancer, Marvel Studios must now determine how to proceed with the planned “Black Panther” sequel without its main star.
Can they even proceed? A recent online rumor suggested Marvel was looking to use digital double recreations of Boseman for scenes at the beginning of the film that would serve as a handoff for someone else to take on the mantle.
However whilst speaking with Clarin (via CBM), Marvel Studios Executive Vice President Victoria Alsonso shot down that talk, saying a straight up “No!” when asked about the possibility of using digital recreations of Boseman. She goes on to say:
“There’s only one Chadwick, and he’s not with us. Our king, unfortunately, has died in real life, not just in fiction, and we are taking a little time to see how we return to the story and what we do to honor this chapter of what has happened to us that was so unexpected, so painful, so terrible, really. [We] have to think carefully about what we are going to do, and how, and think about how we are going to honor the franchise.”
There’s long been speculation that either Shuri (Letitia Wright) or M’Baku (Winston Duke) could take over the role, but Marvel isn’t at that point yet as it still tries to determine where to go creatively with another one.
Alonso also shot down any talk of Robert Downey Jr. reprising his Tony Stark role, saying the character is very much dead and there are no plans at present to resurrect him in anyway.
“Black Panther 2” is currently scheduled for May 6th 2022 though that’s likely to change – especially with the likely necessary rewrites.
