Kevin Feige has revealed that Marvel knew right away that Chadwick Boseman was the perfect person to play Black Panther.
Black Panther is starting to make its presence known on the world stage, releasing in various markets across the world. The film is expected to do tremendous business for Marvel, and Kevin Feige, the president of Marvel Studios, has revealed to Variety the casting process behind the film, and how star Chadwick Boseman came onboard.
Speaking with reference to the character’s introduction in Captain America: Civil War, Feige said:
“We were working on the story and we needed another character. Our executive producer suggested T’Challa. The minute we started talking about Black Panther, we brought up Chadwick. He really was the only actor we discussed. We had seen the Jackie Robinson role [in 42] and Get On Up was coming up. We were very impressed by how different James Brown and Jackie Robinson are, and how he could sort of do anything. I think it was 24 hours between saying his name in a creative story meeting and talking to his agent and getting on a phone with him and offering him the role of Black Panther, which he accepted. He was in Zurich on a press tour for Get On Up, which makes the story even more far-flung and global and James Bond-like.”
As an aside, Feige also mentioned that there are “many more stories to tell” regarding Black Panther and that he hopes Ryan Coogler would direct any sequel that was made.
SEE ALSO: Why Black Panther had a larger budget than recent Marvel movies
After the events of Captain America: Civil War, King T’Challa returnsohome to the reclusive, technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda to serve as his country’s new leader. However, T’Challa soon finds that he is challenged for the throne from factions within his own country. When two foes conspire to destroy Wakanda, the hero known as Black Panther must team up with C.I.A. agent Everett K. Ross and members of the Dora Milaje, Wakandan special forces, to prevent Wakanda from being dragged into a world war.
Black Panther sees Ryan Coogler (Creed) directing Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa alongside Lupita Nyong’o as Nakia, Michael B. Jordan as Erik Killmonger, Danai Gurira as Okoye, Winston Duke as M’Baku, Forest Whitaker as Zuri, Daniel Kaluuya as W’Kabi, Angela Bassett as Ramonda, Florence Kasumba as Ayo, Martin Freeman as Everett Ross, Andy Serkis as Ulysses Klaue, Letitia Wright as Shuri, Sterling K. Brown as N’Jobu, John Kani as King T’Chaka and Nabiyah Be as Nightshade.
