WARNING: The following contains spoilers for What If...? Season 1, Episode 2, "What If... T'Challa Became a Star-Lord," streaming now on Disney+.
The late Chadwick Boseman's voice role as T'Challa Star-Lord in Marvel's What If...? would have influenced the actor's performance in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
During an interview at the Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings premiere, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige was asked what it meant for people to hear Boseman's final performance just under a year since his tragic passing. "We didn't know it would be his final performance, obviously. He came in numerous times, I think three or four times, was so gung-ho about it, was so excited about it," Feige revealed. "Somebody has probably spoken about this already, but he came in and he read the episode that airs... whenever it is, 24 hours from now, and then came back and said, 'I really love this version of T'Challa.' And we had a conversation after that with Ryan about how do we get some of this voice -- none of the storyline -- but just some of that voice into Panther 2?"
Boseman died on August 28, 2020 from Stage IV colon cancer, a diagnosis he withheld from the public and Hollywood collaborators while filming his roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and other movies like Da 5 Bloods. On the emotional impact of his T'Challa What If...?'s episode, Feige called it "remarkably sad and bittersweet" and added that he's "very happy we have it and I'm very happy he did it for us, and I'm excited for the fans to see that as well." When asked whether any tribute will be made for Boseman later this month, Feige stated, "Every day is a tribute to him right now as we're filming in Atlanta. Every single day."
Boseman's What If...? episode reveals a world where Yondu's Ravagers accidentally picked up a young T'Challa instead of Peter Quill, due to cosmic interference from Wakanda's Vibranium mound. Thus, T'Challa grew up to become Star-Lord: a heroic outlaw who provides altruistic aid to the galaxy, even convincing Thanos to abandon his genocidal mission and become a Ravager. The episode's plot saw T'Challa, at Nebula's request, lead a heist on the Collector's museum for an artifact capable of ending galactic hunger, only to learn new details about his past.
Production on Wakanda Forever began at the end of June but, according to Angela Bassett, the script is still experiencing rewrites. Rumors about Wakanda Forever's story suggest the sequel to 2018's Black Panther will officially introduce Atlantean characters to the MCU, with Tenoch Huerta reportedly playing Prince Namor the Sub-Mariner and Michaela Coel portraying Namor's cousin Namora. Most recently, Black Panther character Ayo (Florence Kasumba) and members of the Dora Milaje appeared in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier to retrieve King T'Chaka's killer, Helmut Zemo, after Bucky Barnes broke him out of prison.
New episodes of Marvel Studios' What If...? debut Wednesdays on Disney+. Directed by Ryan Coogler, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is currently scheduled for release on July 8, 2022.
Source: Twitter