News culture What would Black Panther 2 have looked like with Chadwick Boseman? We have the answer
Published on 28/12/2022 at 13:08
Released in France on November 9, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever met with great success, exceeding 800 million dollars generated at the Box Office. But, as you know, this feature film has been completely redesigned following the disappearance of Chadwick Boseman. We now know a little more about the scenario originally planned.
Black Panther Wakanda Forever: a film redesigned from start to finish
The idea of a sequel for Black Panther dates back to 2018 and, since then, Kevin Feige indicated that there were many options possible to develop this character that has become iconic. It wasn’t long before the MCU boss and Ryan Coogler hit it off, and it’s been announced that Chadwick Boseman is in negotiations to appear in two other films. Unfortunately, behind the scenes, the actor playing T’Challa is battling cancer, a fight he will unfortunately lose on August 28, 2020. A brutal death for many observers as well as for Ryan Coogler, who had to quickly think about what was next.
What to do with Black Panther without Chadwick Boseman? Several avenues were considered: assign the main role to another actor or pass the costume to Shuri like in the comics, or even go in a completely different direction. In November and December 2020, it is announced that Marvel won’t use CGI to bring up Chadwick Boseman, and that the actor will not be replaced. Marvel and Disney therefore decide to continue to develop the characters already present, to give the costume to another character, and to integrate the disappearance of Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa.
In the script for the film released in November, King T’Challa is dead, and Wakanda is in mourning. Ramonda occupies the throne, aided and supported by Shuri, M’Baku and the Dora Milaje. And as much to say that there is work, since the great powers see with a bad eye Wakanda’s control over vibraniumand Namor, ruler of Talocan threatens to declare war on the ancient hidden country because of vibranium. Many adventures follow, which we will spare readers who have not yet seen the film and who intend to do so.
We know what the first screenplay of the film looked like
On the other hand, we can speak of what the first script of Black Panther Wakanda Forever looked like, written with a view to a new incarnation of the hero not Chadwick Boseman. During an interview with the New York Times, Ryan Coogler and co-writer Joe Robert Cole, explained that the idea was to explore the consequences of Thanos snapping his fingers and the disappearance of T’Challa, as has been done for other characters in other places.
“It should have been a father-son story from the father’s point of view. The first was already built in this dynamic, but from the point of view of the sons.”
He explains that the film’s introduction had a lively discussion between Nakiaplayed by Lupita Nyong’o, and his young son Toussaint. The latter does not know who his father is, because Nakia wanted to protect his son from the risks involved. The stakes of origins, of the relationship to the father, and of inheritance, would therefore have been immediately introduced.
After that, the film would have had its heart the birth of the relationship between T’Challa and Toussaint, with the red thread of mourning due to the absence of T’Challa due to the “blink” of Thanos. The issue of return of missing persons, discussed in the following films and series, would therefore also have been part of it. This film, which will never see the light of day, was codenamed Summer Break, because everything would have taken place around a trip organized by T’Challa for Toussaint.
For his eighth birthday, they do a ritual and live in the bush from what they find in the wild. But something happens and T’Challa must go save the world with his son by his side. That was the movie.
Namor would have been present, but he would not have been the main enemy, since this role would have been entrusted to Countess Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. “Basically, it was a three-way conflict between Wakanda, the United States and Talokan. But the story had to be seen above all from the child’s point of view”, thus explain Coogler and Cole to conclude. But things may not be over for the Countess, as the CIA Director is expected to be central to the plot of Thunderbolt, which is expected on July 24, 2024.
A propos de Black Panther : Wakanda Forever
