Marvel Studios’ Executive Vice President says there are no plans to digitally recreate Chadwick Boseman for Black Panther 2. The planned sequel would’ve seen Boseman return as T’Challa AKA the Black Panther before his tragic passing in August. The actor had been secretly battling colon cancer since 2016 while simultaneously starring in seven films, including the physically-demanding Black Panther.

Boseman’s Marvel coworkers such as Kevin Feige, Michael B. Jordan, Letitia Wright, and Ryan Coogler have since posted moving tributes online. Their messages express shock, grief, and gratitude for the work Boseman accomplished. Black Panther, which was praised as a watershed moment for representation, wouldn’t have been such a success without Boseman’s dignified performance as the King of Wakanda. Last year, the studio announced that Black Panther’s writer/director, Coogler, would also helm Black Panther 2 for May 6, 2022. While that release date remains on Disney’s schedule, those involved with the project don’t want to think about making it without Boseman right now.

Related: MCU Actors Remember Chadwick Boseman

Speaking to Clarin, Marvel Studios EVP, Victoria Alonso said that Black Panther 2 has no plans to double Boseman’s character using CGI. Alsonso, like Boseman’s coworkers, wants to take time and think carefully about how to honor Boseman’s historic elevation of both the company and franchise:

"No. 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 history and what we do to honor this chapter of what has happened to us that was so unexpected, so painful, so terrible, really."

Chadwick Boseman sitting on the throne in Black Panther

Production was slated to begin in March 2021, but the studio will likely alter Black Panther 2's schedule once they’ve decided the franchise’s future. That said, Marvel might follow the comics, in which the mantel of Black Panther is taken up by other characters like Shuri, leading many to believe that Wright’s character could do so in the Black Panther film franchise. However, Boseman will always be T’Challa, and it's strange to imagine Black Panther 2 without him.

Disney has used CGI to render the late Peter Cushing’s Moff Tarkin and Carrie Fisher’s Leia Organa in Star Wars projects, plus digitally de-aging numerous actors in MCU films. It’s safe to say they won’t use that technology in Black Panther 2. Similar to the controversy surrounding James Dean’s CGI resurrection, using a digital double of Boseman seems less than appropriate. No one necessarily wants the Black Panther franchise to end, but Boseman’s legacy is more important than a sequel. If the studio can’t find a dignified way to make one without him, maybe they shouldn’t.

More: Chadwick Boseman: Why The Black Panther Actor Was A Real-Life Hero

Source: Clarin

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