Honor Chadwick Boseman by Recasting T'Challa, Rising Petition Argues

Some would consider recasting T'Challa as the ultimate disrespect to the late Chadwick Boseman; but it is quite the opposite, a rising petition is arguing.

"Recast T'Challa To Honor Chadwick Boseman In the Black Panther Franchise" on Change.org has already garnered almost 5,000 signatures and is steadily gathering steam, thanks to a very well presented and rather convincing plea by originator, movie reviewer E-Man.

Appealing directly to studio president Kevin Feige and "Black Panther" writer/directer Ryan Coogler, he insisted: "If Marvel Studios removes T'Challa, it would be at the expense of the audiences (especially Black boys and men) who saw themselves in him. That also includes the millions of fans who were inspired by the character as well."

"#RecastTChalla is not a call to replace Chadwick Boseman. (No one could ever do that)," he admitted; nor is it in opposition to another character — such as T'Challa's sister Shuri — taking up the mantle of Black Panther (which in the comic canon, is a mantle that is passed on): "This petition is merely asking to continue the portrayal of T'Challa in the MCU. #RecastTChalla is a call to fulfill the role that Chadwick Boseman worked so hard for the world to see."

E-Man argues that as the first Black superhero in mainstream comics as well as the MCU, T'Challa is "literally Black history."

He also insisted that the late actor himself would have likely agreed with him: "Chadwick Boseman wanted people to see the role, and not himself. He believed that the roles he took on were bigger than himself, and the role of T'Challa was no exception."

"He took on the role of T'Challa because he knew the history and significance of both the character and the Black Panther franchise," he said. "Even despite his cancer diagnosis, he still signed on for a Black Panther 3 film."

Boseman tragically lost his secret battle to colon cancer on August 28, aged just 43.

While only the top Marvel insiders know how exactly the studio will address his passing in "Black Panther II", Feige has previously insisted they would not replace him with CGI, or another actor, leaving fans to guess his character may be killed off, leaving another to take up the title of the Black Panther.

However, E-Man makes the argument that to simply kill off T'Challa is to render him "expendable, replaceable and less significant."

He points to the MCU recasting both Hulk (Mark Ruffalo for Ed Norton) and James Rhodes (Don Cheadle for Terrence Howard), accepting that while the circumstances were different, both characters were too valuable to simply kill them off — so why should T'Challa be treated any different?

With the massive success of "WandaVision" and "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier", he suggested Marvel shuffle their release date calendar and use the upcoming spin-off Wakanda TV series to give audiences and those closer to the situation time to emotionally heal.

He even suggested Marvel take a page out of trailing rival DC for a change, and trust audiences to invest in a TV series based on the canon without the main character (think the Batman-less Gotham, or Superman-less Krypton), which would provide a less abrupt handoff to the Black Panther sequel without its beloved original star.

Predicting the inevitable backlash a recasting decision would bring, E-Man advises the studio to weather it and remember many of cinema's greats had several people portray them, including Batman, Superman, and James Bond. And who could forget the furor surrounding Heath Ledger's casting as the Joker, a turn that would land him (posthumously, alas) an Oscar and universal acclaim.

"There is no need to double down on the already tragic pain of losing Chadwick, only to compound that with losing the character of T'Challa as well," E-Man concludes.

"The #1 way to kill a legend, is to stop telling their story."