Photo Credit: Marvel Studios
Chadwick Boseman was largely responsible for turning Black Panther into a household name, with his performance as the Marvel superhero earning near-unanimous praise from critics and fans. Unfortunately, the actor passed away in 2020 after a lengthy battle with colon cancer before he could fully explore the character of T’Challa/Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
It’s no secret that Marvel Studios was setting up Boseman’s Black Panther to be one of the new pillars of the MCU following the events of Avengers: Endgame. Sadly, following Boseman’s death, Marvel has chosen to largely retire T’Challa, with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever revealing that the character had also passed away.
In a new interview with Screen Rant, Marvel Zombies showrunner Bryan Andrews, who was also an executive producer on What If…?, has now revealed that there were major plans for Boseman’s Black Panther in the Marvel Animation landscape that were ultimately changed following his death.
Andrews revealed that if Boseman was still alive, “he would’ve had his own Star-Lord T’Challa spinoff show long before we did the zombie thing.” Star-Lord T’Challa was introduced in the second episode of What If…?, “What If… T’Challa Became a Star-Lord?,” which was dedicated to Boseman, who received posthumous praise for his vocal performance.
How did Chadwick Boseman’s death change Black Panther’s role in Marvel Zombies?
Andrews also shared that Black Panther would have likely had a larger role in the upcoming Marvel Zombies, instead of the silent cameo that the character ended up with in the animated miniseries. The TV-MA series is a continuation of the What If…? episode, “What If… Zombies?!,” which also featured a vocal performance from Boseman.
“Yeah, for all the reasons you laid out, that’s why we chose to have Peter [Parker] narrate that moment. We didn’t have Chadwick. If we had Chadwick, it would’ve been completely different choices,” the showrunner explained, as to why Black Panther appears but does not have any lines of dialogue. “But being able to revisit his character in that way, the way it plays out, it was another way to be with him in some strange way, even though there were no words. You know what I mean? It’s still Chadwick’s Black Panther, and that’s rad.”
Marvel TV head Brad Winderbaum added, “And we actually showed an early animatic to [Black Panther director] Ryan Coogler to get his notes, and he had some great ideas in that sequence that were really additive.”
The Black Panther movies and What If…? are available to stream on Disney+, while Marvel Zombies will be released on the streaming service on September 24, 2025.
