‘Black Panther’: Marvel Exec Says Chadwick Boseman Will Not Be Digitally Recreated For Sequel

No scenario involving the continuation of Marvel’s “Black Panther” series doesn’t involve some form of heartbreak. The movie’s star Chadwick Boseman, suddenly passed away from cancer this summer, and his illness was kept secret the entire time until the day of his death. What to do with ‘Panther’ moving forward and how do you even fathom moving ahead without Boseman? A recent online rumor said Marvel was planning on using digital double recreations of Boseman at the beginning of the film in a way to lead the path for someone else to take on the mantle of the Black Panther.

READ MORE: R.I.P. – ‘Black Panther’ Star Chadwick Boseman Dies From Cancer At 43w

However, in an interview with Clarin (via Comic Book), Executive Vice President of Marvel Studios, Victoria Alsonso, quickly poured water on that rumor.

READ MORE: Letitia Wright Says It’s “Strange” To Think About Doing ‘Black Panther 2’ Without Chadwick Boseman

“No,” she responded when asked about the possibility of using digital recreations of Boseman. “There’s only one Chadwick, and he’s not with us. Our king, unfortunately, has died in real life, not just in fiction, and we are taking a little time to see how we return to the story and what we do to honor this chapter of what has happened to us that was so unexpected, so painful, so terrible, really.”

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While fans have speculated that Shuri (Letitia Wright) or M’Baku (Winston Duke), could take over the role (the former does in the comics), it sounds like Marvel isn’t even at that stage, still grieving, and still trying to decide what creative solution is used.

READ MORE: Report: Chadwick Boseman Tragically Believed He’d Beat Cancer & Return For ‘Black Panther’ Sequel

“[We] have to think carefully about what we are going to do, and how, and think about how we are going to honor the franchise,” Alonso said.

READ MORE: Michael B. Jordan Vows To Live With “Grace, Courage, & No Regrets” In Tribute To Chadwick Boseman

It should be said for skeptics, Lucasfilm said the same thing about Carrie Fisher, her passing, and her inclusion in the final “Star Wars” Skywalker saga which ended up being ‘The Rise Of Skywalker.’ Ultimately, they used previously unused footage of Rian Johnson‘s “The Last Jedi” as a workaround. Technically, it wasn’t a digital recreation, it was old footage, but they digitally processed the hell out of it all over the place, including on top of a stand-in double, acting in place of Fisher, so one supposes there’s a workaround for everything and or every promise.

READ MORE: ‘Black Panther’ Director Ryan Coogler Pens Heartfelt Tribute To Chadwick Boseman: “He Was Special, A Caretaker, A Leader”

Either way, the scenarios are bleak and devastating as King T’Challa has to be somehow written out of the movie, either in some prologue, or even some kind of explanatory preamble. Neither scenario is great, but it’s unfortunately what Marvel has to live with. It’s also interesting to hear Alonso say they are continuing to take time to figure out what to do. “Black Panther 2,” is currently scheduled for May 6, 2022, but it will not surprise if that gets delayed again and maybe even pushed back a whole year while they rewrite the screenplay, presumably mostly from scratch.