Spoilers Black Panther Wakanda Forever

Oh, but when Nolan refused to recast the Joker then it was okay?

 

I get not recasting him, but not even mentioning him was a bit much...

 

With all due respect to William Hurt, neither he nor General Ross were quite on the same strata among the general population as Chadwick Boseman and T'Challa.

 

Exactly and Boseman was so beloved by fans and seemed like a really great person with amazing personal strength that i fully agree with the decision to honor him this way by not recasting his role ( and it was his role much like Downey Jr. took Stark, Evans took Rogers, Holland took Parker and Jackman took Wolverine). I also liked that they didn't show him until the end or god forbid CGI him to show him dying, one of the movies central stories is how his loved ones deal with grief and that would have just cheapened that storyline.

 

He was also an important cultural symbol--recasting him during this moment of time would not have been met with enthusiasm.

 

I enjoyed the film, but I didn't love it - the balance of fight scenes versus character scenes felt way out of whack. It could have used tighter editing, but - I suspect they felt they needed to make it feel worthy to the sequel, given the circumstances, and did so by making an (unnecessarily) longer film. Shuri should have come to her senses and understanding of the situation a lot sooner, but - grief makes people act differently, so that is a forgivable problem.

I must have forgotten about the destruction of the herb - that is the most important thing to take away/remember from the first film as it plays a vital part in the new film.

I did not outright cry, but I teared-up in a few places. I kept wondering if we were going to get a CGI ghostly T'Challa ala the Ghostbusters Afterlife Egon Spengler.

 

While some would take issue with recasting at this time, others have promoted recasting. I think what has happened is a blurring of the character T'Challa with the actor Chadwick Boseman that rarely, if ever, happens when it comes to a literary character that's adapted to film/television on this kind of level. How many Robin Hoods have there been over the decades for example? This isn't a case of say Carrie Fisher bringing the role of Princess/General Leia Organa to life. The character T'Challa predated Chadwick Boseman by ten years.

While I can't think of as high profile a recast under the circumstances that befell the Black Panther franchise, there are some precedents of recasting after the death of an actor (Harry Potter, Matrix) and even a lead actor (Spartacus: Blood & Sand). And there's been recasting of still living actors, like the three men who were Batmen in the Burton-Schumaker films where the recasting didn't meet with fierce resistance. Superman Returns cast Brandon Routh as basically the same Clark Kent that Christopher Reeve played and that wasn't an issue either. Recasting James Bond has become a tradition in itself, as has Doctor Who (albeit they wisely incorporated regeneration into that franchise). Pre-Wakanda Forever, the MCU was not gun shy about recasting. I believe Disney believes this move honors Boseman, and while I won't argue that, it also does something else, which is limit opportunities for T'Challa the character, which is a part of Boseman's legacy.

Disney/Marvel was in a difficult spot, no matter which way they took it, and whatever move they made wasn't going to please everyone. I wish that they had recast though. At first I was against recasting, but the more I read and listened to others talk about the importance of T'Challa overall I think that Disney/Marvel could also honor Boseman and what he established by having the legacy endure and giving another actor the opportunity instead of hanging up the role like they are retiring a jersey and immortalizing Boseman's T'Challa in amber. That does acknowledge how much Boseman meant to the MCU and millions around the world, but it also cuts off the opportunity for T'Challa (his legacy) to grow.

Spoiler

I have not seen the movie, but I do know of the mid-credit scene which I suspect was a compromise, but it's not one I care for because that opens another can of worms. While the promise is now out there for T'Challa to return and Disney seems to not have closed off the idea of a variant,

I think Disney could've avoided twisting themselves in knots and just recast (so that T'Challa's story got to go on) or been more amenable to the idea early on. Some who want a recast didn't demand that it happened in Wakanda Forever.

Spoiler

The compromise might be enough for some, but I'm more wait and see if Disney ages T'Challa Jr. or is around long enough to see this character become an adult. Regardless of that, T'Challa Jr. is also not T'Challa. He's a separate character, a MCU specific character. Whatever his adventures are it's not the same as having the original character there.

 

It’s also not the first time he’s been recast

 

I watched this film at the weekend, it was one of the first Marvel films that I have ever seen. My main criticism is that it runs for far too long, almost 3 hours in total. The film just could not carry the story in a captivating enough way in order to justify having this length. They could have quite easily cut 45 minutes out of the movie and it would have made no overall difference to the story or flow of the film.

I am unfamiliar with who the ‘Black Panther’ in the first movie was though I may check out his film one day. I could view the film through the ‘prequel’ lense seeing as Wakanda is my first foray in to this particular franchise. I enjoyed it and would watch it again, even if it was just for the cool special effects.

 

Whatever one can say about Hurt, he was a highly acclaimed actor and an Oscar winner. If Feige needed an actor to replace Hurt for the Thaddeus Ross role and the upcoming "Thunderbolts" movie or series, why didn't he recast T'Challa? I really enjoyed Boseman's work as T'Challa and a few other roles, but I'm not prepared to place him on a pedestal. The MCU should have recast T'Challa, as far as I'm concerned. And now they never will. I'm sorry, but I'm too disappointed over this to even enjoy this new film.

 

Boy, you haven't seen anything if you believe Black Panther 2 had cool special effects ( it has but nowhere near some of the other movies). It is however a daunting task to watch close to 30 movies + half a dozen TV shows to get the full experience. But if it grips you it will be an awesome experience.

 

Re: Elaine’s purple streak in her hair, who was that woman in Agents of Shield late s1 who had (IIRC) purple hair? I can barely remember it, just wondered if they’re based on the same comic character, or just completely different. I can’t remember who that character was and what to search for.

 

Saffron Burrows character, Victoria Hand? No, Victoria and the Contessa are both characters from the comics. The Contessa was Nick Fury's lover and a high ranking SHIELD Agent while Victoria was Norman Osborn's sidekick when he was the SHIELD/Hammer Director.

 

Yes, Hurt was a big deal as an actor, but he was no where near as iconic as Ross as Boseman has become as T'Challa. The first movie was a huge cultural phenomenon, and turned Boseman as T'Challa into an iconic figure, and they must have felt that the best way to honor that was to not recast. It's not just about the actor, it's about the combination of that actor as that character.

 

No one is knocking Hurt for his career, i really like seeing him in movies.

Boseman's movie however had a much bigger impact culturally and for the MCU, so the situation is different. Since his death and what came out after about his life during his fight with cancer elevated him to a degree that it became unthinkable for the MCU to just replace him, it's akin to the Chicago Bulls retiring number 23 after Michael Jordan left them.

It is a way of honoring and respecting his legacy both as an actor and a person. Personally i didn't like the reveal of his son, who's also named T'Challa, because i'm 100% sure they will use it somehow to have an adult T'Challa sometime later in the MCU, cheapening their decision to honor Boseman in the same movie.

 

Let me just say that I welcome the choice not to recast T'Challa. First, I dislike recasting in general. But more than that, it would have been utterly disrespectful to Chadwick Boseman. A man who not only passed away fairly recently, but also stoically gave us his interpretation of T'Challa in the first movie when he was already fully aware of his terminal illness. He held his shit together until the bitter end ... my deepest and sincere respect for this man!

 

I have to say..... I'm disappointed.

The movie had some stellar performances, some very heartfelt moments. But it was way to long, a plot I couldn't get in to, same old over the top MCU cgi clusterf*&% battles. Riri was pretty cool but that Go Go Power Rangers suit really took me out of any scene it was in.

I will say, the world building was amazing.

 

Wow! Your boycott worked!

Black Panther 2 was only #2 in US Box Office sales, waaaaay behing Top Gun: Maverick. And it's all the way down to #7, after 10 weeks at the box office.

That'll show 'em

 

Spoken like a very rational person, who definitely hasn't quoted a 2 month old post for no reason like a weirdo

I like how me going "I'm personally not going to financially support a movie starring an Anti-Vax asshole" somehow transformed in your head into some official attempt at a boycott. I never said anything about some big boycott, and I never said the movie wouldn't make money. You've invented that, I'm assuming because you share certain opinions with Wright (why else would you take one person not wanting to support the movie so weirdly?).

I didn't even rant or anything, it was a pretty calm explanation about why I wasn't going to support the film. I didn't even say anything bad about people who would pay to see it, just that I personally didn't feel right supporting it with my wallet.

 

Normally I don't agree with Fives here, but he is correct.

You pulled something out of that post that wasn't there.