Chadwick Boseman’s time on Marvel’s What If…? show was not meant to be his last performance as T’Challa, but his passing last August made it so. While Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is going on without Boseman, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige said the actor’s final performance as the character is influencing the upcoming film, Variety reports.
“We didn’t know it would be his final perfomance, obviously,” Feige said of Boseman’s time on What If…?. “He came in numerous times, was so gung ho about it, was so excited about it. He read the episode that airs 24 hours from now and then came back and said ‘I really love this version of T’Challa.’ We had a conversation after that with Ryan [Coogler, director of Black Panther and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever] about how do we get some of this voice–none of the storyline–but just some of that voice into Panther 2. I’m excited for the fans to see that as well.”
Asked if Marvel had plans for the upcoming anniversary of Boseman’s death on August 28, Feige said that “every day is a tribute to him right now as we’re filming in Atlanta, every single day.”
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is now in production, headed for a July 2022 release. Ryan Coogler is writing and directing the film, and Kevin Feige has confirmed that Marvel will not be recasting Boseman’s T’Challa. Danai Gurira, Lupita Nyong’o, and Martin Freeman are confirmed to return, while God of War actor Chris Judge and actress Michaela Coel have joined as well. Black Panther joins the Marvel’s Avengers game later this month as part of the War for Wakanda update, and Boseman’s episode of Marvel’s What If…? releases this Wednesday on Disney+.
