Disney has made no move to figure out the next steps with the “Black Panther” sequel or any future Black Panther appearances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
What happened:
Boseman, 43, died at the end of last week after a four-year battle with colon cancer.
Boseman was well-known for his role as King T’Challa/Black Panther in the “Black Panther” film, as well as “Captain America: Civil War,” “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame.”
“Now, the studio is processing the grief of losing a loved one — an actor beloved and respected on- and offscreen — while having to face the economic realities of forging ahead with a billion-dollar franchise without its titular star. Furthermore, his death will ripple across the Marvel film universe, given that the Black Panther character was poised to appear in other interconnected films,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Unnamed sources told The Hollywood Reporter that Disney “is processing its grief and that its focus at this stage is to pay tribute to Boseman and not on the making of a ‘Black Panther’ sequel.”
Boseman may appear again
Per Entertainment Weekly, “Black Panther 2” had not started production before the coronavirus pandemic.
But Marvel will debut a new Disney Plus series called “Marvel’s What If ...” — which will retell some of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s biggest events with new and fresh takes — in 2021, which I wrote about for Deseret.com.
- Several MCU actors were slated to provide voiceovers, including Boseman as T’Challa and Michael B. Jordan as Killmonger from “Black Panther.”
Fans have called on Disney and Marvel to not recast Boseman as “Black Panther.” Marvel Studios said Boseman “will always be our king.”