Black Panther’s Winston Duke Joins Ryan Gosling in The Fall Guy

Winston Duke is best known for playing M’Baku in Black Panther, a role he will be seen reprising next week in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The actor also has some other big movies under his belt including Jordan Peele’s Us, and he’s about to join Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt in The Fall Guy, Universal’s adaptation of a TV series that is being helmed by David Leitch. 

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Duke will play the best friend of Gosling’s character. The feature film is inspired by the 1980s series of the same name but will have a different spin. Gosling is playing a past-his-prime stuntman who finally lands a job, but the star of the movie goes missing. The movie has also cast Kraven the Hunter‘s Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Everything Everywhere All At Once breakout star, Stephanie Hsu. Kelly McCormick is partnering as a producer on the project with a script from Drew Pearce who also worked with Leitch on Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw. Gosling will also serve as a producer with original series creator Glen A. Larson executive producing. Soon, the cast is expected to fly to Australia to begin filming. 

What Has Winston Duke Said About a Potential T’Challa Recast in Marvel?

Marvel has not officially confirmed who will become the new Black Panther in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. There has been a lot of speculation about the change with fans guessing everyone from Shuri (Letitia Wright) and M’Baku (Duke) to Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) as well as Michael B. Jordan’s Killmonger who hasn’t even been confirmed to appear in the film. As far as recasting Boseman’s T’Challa, some fans have been calling for a recast while others don’t think the role should be touched. Nyong’o recently explained that she is against the idea, and Duke was also asked about it.

“I think for this iteration of Black Panther, it’s very hard for me to really comment on something like that. Because, I’m of the mind that this is Chadwick’s role,” Duke explained. “Chadwick created this and Black Panther wouldn’t be the same without Chadwick Boseman, who stood for the things that he stood for. When you cast a person, you’re also casting their experiences, their politics, all of these things. Black Panther was defined by the actor that did it, in my opinion. So, I feel, as-is, the decision that’s been made to keep T’Challa, Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa is one that has a lot of nobility in it.”

Stay tuned for more updates about The Fall Guy. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is scheduled to be released in theaters on November 11th.