Michael B. Jordan Tells Fans to Stop Asking Chadwick Boseman to Do "Wakanda Forever"

It's hard to overstate the cultural impact Black Panther has had in the months since its release, [...]

By Patrick Cavanaugh

It's hard to overstate the cultural impact Black Panther has had in the months since its release, including audiences around the world offering the film's star a "Wakanda Forever" salute at every opportunity. While accepting the MTV Movie Award for his portrayal of Killmonger in the film, Michael B. Jordan jokingly pleaded with fans to ask them to stop making the gesture.

"Chadwick Boseman, he personally asked me to ask y'all to stop asking him to say, 'Wakanda Forever' out in the streets. Y'all are taking this 'forever' thing a little too seriously," Jordan joked.

The camera then cut to Boseman in the audience who could hardly contain his laughter at Jordan's comments.

Once the gesture debuted in February, the film's cast was regularly seen demonstrating the salute at a variety of public appearances. The salute has taken on a life of its own, sometimes resulting in the cast responding to fans with a more casual response.

By the time Avengers: Infinity War rolled around, Boseman had likely been giving the salute dozens of times a day for nearly three months, resulting in a viral social media post that compared his more laid back salute at the Avengers premiere to salutes at the Black Panther premiere.

"I thought that was funny. It's a salute, ya know, if I was in the military and [saluted] every day, I'm not gonna do it the same every time," Boseman explained to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert of a photo in which he appeared more relaxed. "Sometimes it's more pedestrian. That person, whoever I was doing it to at that moment, caught a casual one. Three minutes before that I probably did one that was fully [enthusiastic]."

In the months since the film's release, Boseman has learned that virtually any public outing will include multiple salutes.

"You know what the funny thing is...if I don't want to do it I have to not leave the house, pretty much," Boseman shared with Jimmy Kimmel Live. "I've been chased in cars, I've actually done the scene from Coming to America where he goes to the bathroom and people are bowing to him so that one's happened."

You can see Black Panther in Avengers: Infinity War, in theaters now.

Other upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include Ant-Man and the Wasp on July 6th, Captain Marvel opens on March 8, 2019, the fourth Avengers movie on May 3, 2019, the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming on July 5, 2019, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in 2020.

Do you think fans will ever stop giving Boseman the salute? Let us know in the comments below!

[H/T Twitter, blaquepink]

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