Damson Idris has addressed rumors that he turned down Marvel’s offer to play the new T’Challa in the ‘Black Panther’ franchise.
After a user on X claimed Idris had declined the role, the actor humorously responded by quoting the tweet: “Yes sir. I turned down 007, A co-lead film with Daniel Day Lewis and an Eddie Murphy biopic too.”
Another actor rumored to have been offered the role is Aaron Pierre. While early speculation suggested that Kevin Feige and his team were seeking a new actor to play a version of T’Challa as portrayed by Chadwick Boseman, it seems more likely that Marvel is casting for the role of Toussaint, aka Prince T’Challa. Introduced at the end of ‘Wakanda Forever,’ Toussaint is the son of the original T’Challa.
Many actors reportedly feel that accepting the role might be seen as replacing Boseman, which they consider disrespectful to the late actor. Others simply may not want to take on the responsibility of such an iconic role.
In a 2022 interview with The New York Times, director Ryan Coogler shared his perspective on continuing the franchise: “I feel blessed that I have the opportunity to work on these movies, bro. When I got asked to do the first one, it was like a moving train. I thank God every day that I was able to jump on it and meet these people, these actors, and to meet Chadwick during some of the last years of his life. I’ll do it as long as folks will have me. But I think it’s bigger than just me or Joe. Between the first and second movie, we made $2 billion at the box office, which is what matters the most to corporations. So I hope that it continues, man. I hope people are still making movies about Wakanda long after we’re gone.”
In the sequel, Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Shuri (Letitia Wright), M’Baku (Winston Duke), Okoye (Danai Gurira), and the Dora Milaje (including Florence Kasumba) strive to protect their nation from external threats after King T’Challa’s death. With the help of War Dog Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) and Everett Ross (Martin Freeman), the Wakandans forge a new path for their kingdom.
The film introduced Tenoch Huerta as Namor, king of a hidden undersea nation, and also starred Dominique Thorne, Michaela Coel, Mabel Cadena, and Alex Livanalli.
