.png)
5 hours ago
2
Marvel’s multiverse has become a narrative Swiss army knife capable of slicing through the thorniest of creative dilemmas and papering over the widest of cracks. That said, few dilemmas are as sensitive as how to move forward with a superhero as iconic as Black Panther. Chadwick Boseman’s portrayal of T’Challa wasn’t just a performance – it was a cultural touchstone, woven so tightly into the fabric of modern blockbuster cinema that imagining anyone else in the role feels like attempting to rewrite history. Four years after Boseman’s untimely death from colon cancer, Marvel faces the delicate task of continuing a legacy that seems impossible to replicate.
If rumblings out of Hollywood this week have foundation, however, the studio is beginning to countenance just that, a new T’Challa from an alternate reality who presumably finds his way into the mainstream Marvel universe via one of the umpteen ways we’ve seen superheroes such as Doctor Strange, various Spider-Men and Scarlet Witch crossing the boundaries between one reality and another. Jeff Sneider of the InSneider newsletter reports that the studio is finally “firmly open” to bringing back the king of Wakanda, despite previous attempts to recast the role having getting rebuffed by actors who didn’t want to jeopardise their careers by “stepping into Boseman’s gigantic shoes”.
This might come as something of a surprise to Letitia Wright (T’Challa’s sister Shuri), who took up the mantle of the royal Avenger in the reasonably well-received 2022 sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – though of course, she was not playing T’Challa himself. Wright has previously hinted a third film is in the works, though Marvel has not yet announced it is entering production. “We need a little bit of a break, we need to regroup and [director] Ryan [Coogler] needs to get back into the lab,” she told Variety in January 2023. “So it’s going to take a little while, but we’re really excited for you guys to see that.”
In many ways, recasting Boseman is something of a warp in the fabric of Marvel’s cosmos. For years, the studio has seemed primed to follow the path of least resistance by shifting focus to other characters and allowing T’Challa’s legacy to live on through the world he helped define. By introducing a multiversal variant, the studio risks transforming a deeply conceived and culturally significant character into just another interchangeable chess piece in its sprawling, ever-shifting game. It’s a decision that could divide fans, many of whom may have grown attached to the idea that T’Challa’s story ended with Boseman’s passing.
And yet there’s a certain logic to the move, especially in the context of the multiverse’s endless narrative elasticity. A new T’Challa could allow Marvel to explore the character from a fresh perspective, potentially addressing aspects of the great leader’s personality that the original films didn’t fully delve into. In the comics, Wakanda’s king is often portrayed as a master strategist, a scientist on par with Tony Stark (Iron Man) or the Fantastic Four’s Reed Richards, and a king whose political acumen is as sharp as his claws. While the films emphasised his noble heart and the emotional burden of leadership, they only scratched the surface of his brilliance as a tactician and his sometimes ruthless pragmatism in protecting Wakanda. A new interpretation could explore these facets in greater depth, showcasing a T’Challa who is not just a superhero but a complex, multifaceted leader navigating the ever-shifting dynamics of a world (or multiverse) in chaos.
Perhaps there’s even a topsy turvy reality out there where the excellent Michael B Jordan was somehow born as T’Challa, rather than his nefarious cousin N’Jadaka / Erik “Killmonger” Stevens. Bringing back Jordan in the role would be an intriguing way of honouring the original film, in which there is always a sense that life might have been different for the supervillain if he had grown up in better circumstances, while delivering an actor into the role who has already proven he can embody the charisma, intensity, and emotional depth required to carry the mantle of Wakanda’s greatest hero.
As it approaches the double-header of Avengers films, Doomsday and Secret Wars, that will define Phase Six and the Multiverse era, Marvel seems to be taking huge risks with its legacy. It is already bringing back Robert Downey Jr as a take on Doctor Doom who may or may not be a (presumably really messed up) version of Tony Stark, a decision that could not only ruin future episodes but tarnish the excellence of the early Marvel films.
Perhaps, given that the MCU seems to be veering into a strangephase of self-reflection, there is a temptation to bet the house on increasingly outlandish, fearsomely psychedelic concepts. It’s as if the franchise has strapped itself to a cosmic kaleidoscope, spinning wildly in a dazzling storm of neon ideas and fever-dream logic, hoping to find clarity in the chaos. Certainly, the idea of bringing back T’Challa from an alternate reality is emblematic of this: a decision so surreal and fraught with emotional risk that it feels like Marvel testing just how far audiences are willing to follow them down this endless rabbit hole of multiversal mayhem.
