Black Panther 2 Was Odd Without Chadwick Boseman, Says Martin Freeman

Martin Freeman spoke about what it was like making Black Panther: Wakanda Forever without Chadwick Boseman. Freeman, who is best known for his roles in Sherlock, the Hobbit trilogy, and the original UK The Office, plays Everett Ross in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Making his MCU debut in Captain America: Civil War, Ross was the Deputy Task Force Commander for the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre, tasked with enforcing the Sokovia Accords and preventing the Avengers from operating independently. Two years later, in Black Panther, Ross again crossed paths with the titular hero, played by the late Boseman.

Ross will be making his MCU reappearance in the sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which is coming to theaters on November 11, 2022. Unfortunately, though the film was initially planned to follow the continued adventures of Boseman's King T'challa, the actor passed away from colon cancer in August 2020, before the film began production. While the film still went forward, it was completely reworked to center its story on other characters rather than recasting the iconic superhero. Despite being rocked by the tragedy, the film - in addition to Freeman - will feature returning performers Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Daniel Kaluuya, Winston Duke, Angela Bassett, and Letitia Wright, who plays Black Panther's sister, Shuri.

Freeman sat down with Collider to discuss his role in the new film. In a word, he said that filming without Boseman was "odd." Although he has faith in director Ryan Coogler and the rest of his hardworking team, "there's no way around it." He also reveals that his time on set was rather short and that he was "in and out of it quite quickly." Read the full quote below:

It was strange, that side of it. On the one hand, you're making the film that you're there to make, and there are scores and scores of people on set, joined in this endeavor to make the film. But there's also no question that, at the heart of it, there's quite a gap now, and you felt it. With full respect to Ryan Coogler and everybody else, who's sweating and bleeding to get this thing done properly, it was fun. It was enjoyable. I was in and out of it quite quickly, I think. But I like playing Everett Ross. He's a very fun character to play. He's nicely simpatico for the story. He's a good guy.

But it was odd. Of course, it was odd with Chadwick not being there. There's no way around that. I think everyone would find it pretty strange and sad, but at the same time, life things don't just end. It's not like, ‘Well, that's that's happened, so we just all have to go off and never do it again.’ But it was odd. When he passed, I thought, ‘Okay, well maybe there just won't be another one.’ But there are still other stories to tell within that world and other great characters. I think, and I hope that we've made a good film. I trust Ryan Coogler a lot.

One thing that must have made the process especially strange is that, so far, every MCU project that Freeman has worked on has also featured Chadwick Boseman's Black Panther. The Wakandan hero and Everett Ross were both introduced in Civil War, and Freeman's appearances have so far stayed entirely in lockstep with the Wakandan contingent of the MCU. That will change in the future when Ross appears in the upcoming Disney+ series Secret Invasion alongside Nick Fury and Maria Hill, but for the time being it holds true.

In his quote, Freeman also implied that his role in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever may be considerably smaller than his previous appearance. This may be a result of the film's reworked script, which may only require Ross to come back and pay his respects to the fallen hero. On the other hand, the film was likely always going to expand its focus onto the broader Wakandan ensemble, so it's possible that Freeman's character was going to be getting less screen time from the beginning.

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Source: Collider