Black Panther 3 Should Absolutely Recast T’Challa for the MCU

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has introduced the world to many amazing superheroes. Many of these heroes took time to hit it big and some of them were huge right away. Chadwick Boseman’s Black Panther was an example of the latter. From his first appearance in Captain America: Civil War, everyone could tell that Boseman’s Black Panther was going to be a star. The MCU doesn’t always do a great job of capturing the aura of Marvel’s greatest characters in live action, but Black Panther was perfect from the word go. Things only got better when he got his solo film in 2018; Black Panther was a billion dollar success and it was even nominated for Best Picture at the 2019 Academy Awards, the first for a Marvel Studios film.

Black Panther became one of the faces of the MCU and fans were ready to watch the character lead the franchise after Avengers: Endgame. However, Chadwick Boseman’s tragic death, caused by colon cancer that he kept hidden from the world, ended all of that. Since then, fans have been abuzz with whether or not Marvel should recast the legendary actor. Marvel has debunked every Black Panther recasting rumor up to this point, and many fans are against it. However, the truth is that Marvel should recast Boseman.

T’Challa Is Too Important Not To Recast

Chadwick Boseman’s death was a huge blow to the MCU. Avengers: Endgame marked the end to the stories of Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man and Chris Evans’s Captain America. The MCU needed new heroes in the forefront and Boseman’s Black Panther was the one that everyone expected to step up. His death came as a complete shock to everyone; he was somehow able to keep working through the end stages of an extremely painful cancer. This left a massive hole in the MCU and everyone had to scramble to fill it. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever did an admirable job of paying tribute to the actor and character, but it never reached the heights that the previous movie did.

Everyone is wondering what Black Panther 3 is going to be about and so far, Marvel has made sure that everyone knows that they aren’t going to recast Boseman in it. However, in the long term that’s a huge mistake. T’Challa is a huge part of the Marvel Universe in the comics. He’s something of an indispensable character for many of the stories that can be adapted in the future.

For example, Black Panther’s place in the Illuminati — he joined the group during the multiversal Incursions and gave them a home to deal with the crisis — can’t really be taken by anyone else. His relationship with characters like Namor and Doctor Doom is too important to give it to his sister Shuri. T’Challa has been made into a key part of Storm’s life, and with the X-Men coming to the MCU, it’s hard to imagine that Marvel Studios is going to leave their relationship in the comics. Simply put: T’Challa is irreplaceable.

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In the comics, characters never age and die. Comics have what is called a “sliding time scale.” This allows events in the comics to stay the same, while changing the world events that inspired the creators. So, for example, in the Marvel Universe there’s a thing called the Siancong War. This conflict takes the place of Vietnam, so someone like The Punisher isn’t an elderly man. The Cold War-inspired stories of the early Marvel Universe are no longer placed in the Cold War. This sliding time scale keeps the characters young and allows comic events to make sense in their relative eras of time without massive continuity retcons. It’s something the MCU can’t really replicate for a simple reason — humans age and die.

As much as MCU fans don’t want to think about it, one day there will be a new Tony Stark who isn’t Robert Downey Jr. There will be a new Steve Rogers who isn’t Chris Evans. Hugh Jackman may be coming back to the MCU as Wolverine, but there will be a Wolverine who isn’t played by him. This is the reality of things; the MCU isn’t art, it’s commerce. Disney and Marvel Studios don’t care about your nostalgia except to profit off it and their desire to tell stories with these characters will outlast the careers of individual actors. Chadwick Boseman’s death is a tragedy, but T’Challa can and should live on. It’s inevitable, regardless of how the fanbase feels, so they might as well get it out of the way.

T’Challa’s Return Can Return Honor Chadwick Boseman

Every Marvel fan was heartbroken when they learned about Chadwick Boseman’s death. There’s really nothing else to say about it. Boseman was able to bring T’Challa to life in a way no one ever thought possible. Black Panther was always going to be cool, but Boseman made him into the icon that he deserved to be. Many people feel that bringing T’Challa back is somehow disrespectful to Boseman’s memory, but it’s actually the opposite. Bringing back T’Challa can be made into a monument to the greatness that Boseman imbued the character with.

Let’s be real for a second — no one expected to love Black Panther as much as they did and the main reason for that is Chadwick Boseman. Black Panther immediately became an A-list icon after Boseman played the character. The only reason anyone has the “should we recast T’Challa” conversation is because of Boseman. And as strange as it is to say, leaving T’Challa in the past because Boseman died is more disrespectful to the man than bringing a mutliversal T’Challa into the MCU would be. Boseman is most remembered for T’Challa, so bringing back the character is a way to honor the star. It shows that the work he did in making T’Challa an icon worked and will keep his memory alive for years to come.

You can stream Black Panther on Disney+.