By Pierre Lorenz on October 24, 2022 at 11:08 am

In a few days, the last film from Phase 4 of the MCU, "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever", will be released. Over the past two years, the film has been heavily impacted by the death of King T'Challa actor Chadwick Boseman, as he was already set to play the lead role in the sequel. Immediately after Boseman's death, those responsible decided to reconsider the plot. It soon became clear that, out of respect for Boseman's legacy, there would be no CGI replacement or recasting.

Filming finally started with a new script in June 2021, however, the question remains: What happened with the original version? Director Ryan Coogler recently addressed this in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. In fact, he said, the sequel was very much about King T'Challa and focused on his evolution as the leader of Wakanda after the events of "Avengers: Endgame". Coogler spoke of a gigantic movie that would have delved deeply into the psyche of King T'Challa. However, he was unable or reluctant to confirm whether Namor was also planned as the main villain in the original version.

The present version is very different, as you can already tell from the two trailers. Here it becomes apparent that Boseman's death is processed through the passing of his movie character, which can be seen, for example, in the graffiti. Thereby, his death is handled in a sophisticated way and, at the same time, makes room for the presumed main character Shuri. She is embodied by Letitia Wright and is the sister of the late King T'Challa in the film. It is likely that she will henceforth act as Black Panther in the MCU. More details will be available very soon, since "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" is due for release on November 11, 2022.

What are your thoughts on the current approach of having King T'Challa pass away in the MCU as a proper tribute to Chadwick Boseman? Will this do justice to Boseman or would you have wished for something entirely different in order to pay him his last respects on screen? Feel free to write us your opinion in the comments!