Black Man of the Day: Chadwick Boseman (Actor & the new Black Panther) DEAD at 43 from colon cancer Forever The King
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If you can DREAM it?
You can BE it.
http://www.latimes.com/entertainmen...hadwick-boseman-interview-20180208-story.html
How Chadwick Boseman brought power and purpose to Marvel's 'Black Panther'
By JEN YAMATO
FEB 08, 2018 | 3:00 AM
Chadwick Boseman (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
Long before he was cast as the first black superhero of the modern Marvel era, and before he brought the Avengers-adjacent King T'Challa of Wakanda to life in his own groundbreaking standalone tentpole, Chadwick Boseman was keeping notes on what a "Black Panther" movie should be.
"I can remember several times writing in my journals, 'That would be a cool thing to see in Black Panther' – ideas from real life, from real history, or real archaeology or architecture," said Boseman, 40, taking in the sunshine on a Beverly Hills hotel terrace in the midst of a frenetic press tour.
"The projects that I end up doing, that I want to be involved with in any way, have always been projects that will be impactful, for the most part, to my people — to black people," said Boseman, a playwright and theater director turned actor and, now, blockbuster movie star. "To see black people in ways which you have not seen them before. So 'Black Panther' was on my radar, and in my dreams."
Having first come to wide attention as baseball legend Jackie Robinson in 2013's "42," Boseman went on to play James Brown in "Get On Up" the following year, and then-future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall in last year's "Marshall." That run of critically acclaimed performances cemented Boseman as a go-to actor for (real life) heroes even before the high-profile "Black Panther" gig came along.
The Dora Milaje'sOkoye (Danai Gurira), from left, Nakia (Lupita Nyong'o) and Ayo (Florence Kasumba) in"Black Panther." (Matt Kennedy / Marvel Studios)
1 / 20
52 years after debuting in the pages of Marvel Comics, the character created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby is getting his biggest pop culture berth yet. Directed by "Fruitvale Station" and "Creed" helmer Ryan Coogler and co-written by Coogler and Joe Robert Cole, "Black Panther" arrives in theaters Feb. 16 on a wave of overwhelming critical acclaim and is poised for a domestic box office opening in the range of $150 million.
Boseman and Coogler, 31, have already made an impact with their take on "Black Panther," a sprawling work of Afrofuturistic fantasy flair exploding its way out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe formula and flourishing in the absence of, well, the Avengers. Instead of Tony Stark and his crew, it's Boseman's T'Challa and his fellow countrymen and women — played by Lupita Nyong'o, Daniel Kaluuya, Danai Gurira, Forest Whitaker, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke and Angela Bassett, leading a predominantly black cast — who take center stage.
The lineup of black talent in front of and behind the camera, unprecedented for a movie of this scale, has already established Coogler's film as a standard-bearer for black representation in Hollywood. Even the setting — the fictional African country of Wakanda, a tech-forward tribalist nation that has long kept its advances, and its stockpiles of the powerful metal vibranium, secret from the outside world — is revolutionary in the comic book genre.
Coogler's world-building is transporting and vibrant, weaving the DNA of African cultures into the fabric of the film with the help of collaborators both new (veteran costume designer Ruth E. Carter) and familiar (production designer Hannah Beachler, cinematographer Rachel Morrison). But it's within the fraught dynamic between the hero and his primary adversary where "Black Panther" deftly explores subversive and probing concerns around race, history, heritage and identity.
Actor Chadwick Boseman (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
The conflict between an African American and his African [counterpart], is one that has existed since colonialism and since slavery.
CHADWICK BOSEMA
Share quote & link
Building off T'Challa's introduction in "Captain America: Civil War," Boseman steps fully into the hero's suit with stately gravitas as the newly crowned king wavers between his late father's isolationist principles and the impulse to open Wakanda to the world. In the process, he encounters a new threat in the form of a mysterious American dubbed Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan, who has starred in each of Coogler's films to date).
"Most African Americans have had a moment where they're like, 'I know I'm of African descent — but I don't have that connection,'" said the South Carolina-born Boseman. "That's something that needs to be healed. That's something that's broken and has to be made whole. That conflict within the movie, and the conflict between an African American and his African [counterpart], is one that has existed since colonialism and since slavery."
"It's interesting to me because it's an in-house conversation that we're allowing y'all to see," he added with a smile, "that I think will also affect you in a much different way because you bring something different."
He's excited for young people, especially young black men and women, to see themselves reflected onscreen. "The thing that I've noticed is that I have brothers from the continent — people from Nigeria and Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Senegal, South Africa — coming up to me and saying, 'I know you're from here, but you represent what we are back home.' It's touching to me that they get to see an African character onscreen and that they identify with him."
"There will be other people from the States who will see [Michael B. Jordan's] character and identify with him," he added. "I actually do. Because his argument is a valid argument, the disconnection from Africa and the need to know where you come from."
But people of all ages and walks of life will leave the theater with what they bring to it, he muses. "There are also a lot of little white kids that are excited about 'Black Panther' — who I've seen in Black Panther costumes, who want autographs and toys signed — kids that are Asian, Latino," he said. "There's no limitation on ethnicity and gender or even age. All of that is humbling, to say the least."
Chadwick Boseman stars in the latest trailer for Marvel's "Black Panther."
Back in 2013, Boseman was overseas in Zurich promoting "42" when he got the career-changing call from Marvel's head honchos. Boseman admits he weighed the pros of taking on the role against the only con, in his mind — "that Marvel might not be as committed as they should be to making a 'Black Panther' movie on par with the other movies that they make...that it would be some kind of second-class citizen, a second-class superhero movie for black people."
Walking into his first meeting with Marvel's cinematic brain trust, including studio head Kevin Feige and executive producers Louis D'Esposito, Victoria Alonso and Nate Moore, put those fears at ease.
"I went in and I met with them — and I saw that Nate was black," he laughed, "which was important because as a minority you can have this viewpoint of how it looks inside the corporation and inside the building, this view that it's a table full of white men, because we've had to deal with tables full of white men a lot. To walk in there and see that there were women and that one of the shot-callers was black made me feel more comfortable with what was going on."
The battle to realize Black Panther in the right ways began before Coogler came onboard, as Boseman shaped the character for his "Captain America: Civil War" debut. One of his hardest-fought victories was keeping T'Challa's accent grounded in his African roots, for which the actor traveled to South Africa to study and chose a South African dialect coach.
The people of Wakanda had never been conquered by British or other colonists, but unnamed parties behind the scenes suggested T'Challa should have a British accent, an American one or even one just a few shades more European, said Boseman.
Chadwick Boseman explains how he came up with Black Panther's accent from the fictional land of Wakanda
SEP 28, 2016 | 11:15 AM
"Well, why would he have gone to study anywhere? Who could educate him outside of Wakanda?" he argued, opening the door for the "Black Panther" cast to use a range of authentic accents — including the South African tongue isiXhosa, now the official canonical language of Wakanda. "That makes no sense. As wealthy and advanced as [Wakanda is], he must speak to his people in his language and in their sound."
Perhaps surprisingly for an expected blockbuster, "Black Panther" proudly represents not only a wide swath of heritage, history and celebratory black identity but touches openly on the ripple effect their presence and absence can have across generations.
"The truth of the matter is Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and the whole Marvel bullpen created Wakanda and created T'Challa and created Black Panther, and made him a smarter, more accomplished character than any of the other white characters, in the mid-1960s," Feige told journalists at a press conference following the film's premiere.
"They had the guts to do that in the mid-1960s. The least we could do is live up to that and allow this story to be told in the way it needed to be told and not shy away from things that the Marvel founders didn't shy away from in the height of the Civil Rights Era."
The momentum behind "Black Panther" has been palpable even before the Los Angeles world premiere turned Hollywood's Dolby Theatre into a royal affair, where everyone from Ava DuVernay to Snoop Dogg turned out in support. The feeling that the film marks not only a moment but the heralding of a movement in the industry is one Boseman has seen building around him in recent years.
"I think we've been feeling it and talking about it before we could say it," he said. "At this point, with this movie coming out, you can say it. Me as the lead on a poster, at a movie theater, beside John Boyega on a ['Star Wars: The Last Jedi'] poster… You have 'A Wrinkle in Time' following both of those movies. You have 'Atlanta' and 'Insecure' and 'Empire'; it is an interesting moment in film and TV."
Hollywood doesn’t have us in a position where we’re — there’s a term called ‘crabs in a basket’ — fighting over one spot, fighting for position.
CHADWICK BOSEMA
Share quote & link
"It was different being at the [NAACP] Image Awards this year because people were genuinely excited about seeing each other and enjoying each other's work," he continued, citing the acceptance speech DuVernay delivered, which went viral. "Hollywood doesn't have us in a position where we're — there's a term called 'crabs in a basket' — fighting over one spot, fighting for position. There's a celebration to a certain degree of each other's work.
"You couldn't say that three years ago. You couldn't say that five years ago. You couldn't say that when Ryan was doing 'Fruitvale'; there was '42' and 'Selma' — you could feel it easily then, but you couldn't say that."
Ahead of opening his first $200 million movie, Boseman thought back to ten years ago. That's when everything changed thanks to a move from New York, where he was primarily working in theater, to Los Angeles, where his film career took off.
"As soon as I came to L.A., things immediately shifted for me," said Boseman. "I was now actually here with the people who were making the decisions; I wasn't out in New York sending in tapes to L.A."
After a string a TV guest roles, playing Robinson set him down the biopic path, even if he insists the heroic theme that continues through to T'Challa was accidental.
"I don't think you really have a choice but to see a throughline," he chuckled. "It's not necessarily intentional. Well, it is to a certain degree. At a certain point, once you realize what this is, you want to spend your time doing things that will be worth it. And it hasn't been worth it to me to just pick something for the money, or just because it was comfortable or because it was a sure thing.
"[Given] the time spent doing a film and researching it, you're going to come out a different person on the other side — especially if it's a challenge to you. It's always been, 'What is this going to do to make me better?' And that's the throughline."
Boseman, who has a BFA in directing from Howard University and helmed two short films, still plans to direct in the future. He also hopes to make the thriller "Expatriate" for director Barry Jenkins, which he co-scripted, as one of his next projects. But with T'Challa already confirmed to return to screens in this summer's all-hands-on-deck Marvel epic "Avengers: Infinity War," Boseman admits that "Black Panther" commitments have made it trickier to figure out his next steps.
"Is ['Expatriate'] the next thing I'm going to do? I'm not exactly sure how it's going to fall, schedule-wise. I'm trying to open this movie." He paused, correcting himself, and flashed a confident smile. "I'm not trying to. I am opening this movie."
jen.yamato@latimes.com
How Chadwick Boseman brought power and purpose to Marvel's 'Black Panther'
By JEN YAMATO
FEB 08, 2018 | 3:00 AM
Chadwick Boseman (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
Long before he was cast as the first black superhero of the modern Marvel era, and before he brought the Avengers-adjacent King T'Challa of Wakanda to life in his own groundbreaking standalone tentpole, Chadwick Boseman was keeping notes on what a "Black Panther" movie should be.
"I can remember several times writing in my journals, 'That would be a cool thing to see in Black Panther' – ideas from real life, from real history, or real archaeology or architecture," said Boseman, 40, taking in the sunshine on a Beverly Hills hotel terrace in the midst of a frenetic press tour.
"The projects that I end up doing, that I want to be involved with in any way, have always been projects that will be impactful, for the most part, to my people — to black people," said Boseman, a playwright and theater director turned actor and, now, blockbuster movie star. "To see black people in ways which you have not seen them before. So 'Black Panther' was on my radar, and in my dreams."
Having first come to wide attention as baseball legend Jackie Robinson in 2013's "42," Boseman went on to play James Brown in "Get On Up" the following year, and then-future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall in last year's "Marshall." That run of critically acclaimed performances cemented Boseman as a go-to actor for (real life) heroes even before the high-profile "Black Panther" gig came along.
The Dora Milaje'sOkoye (Danai Gurira), from left, Nakia (Lupita Nyong'o) and Ayo (Florence Kasumba) in"Black Panther." (Matt Kennedy / Marvel Studios)
1 / 20
52 years after debuting in the pages of Marvel Comics, the character created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby is getting his biggest pop culture berth yet. Directed by "Fruitvale Station" and "Creed" helmer Ryan Coogler and co-written by Coogler and Joe Robert Cole, "Black Panther" arrives in theaters Feb. 16 on a wave of overwhelming critical acclaim and is poised for a domestic box office opening in the range of $150 million.
Boseman and Coogler, 31, have already made an impact with their take on "Black Panther," a sprawling work of Afrofuturistic fantasy flair exploding its way out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe formula and flourishing in the absence of, well, the Avengers. Instead of Tony Stark and his crew, it's Boseman's T'Challa and his fellow countrymen and women — played by Lupita Nyong'o, Daniel Kaluuya, Danai Gurira, Forest Whitaker, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke and Angela Bassett, leading a predominantly black cast — who take center stage.
The lineup of black talent in front of and behind the camera, unprecedented for a movie of this scale, has already established Coogler's film as a standard-bearer for black representation in Hollywood. Even the setting — the fictional African country of Wakanda, a tech-forward tribalist nation that has long kept its advances, and its stockpiles of the powerful metal vibranium, secret from the outside world — is revolutionary in the comic book genre.
Coogler's world-building is transporting and vibrant, weaving the DNA of African cultures into the fabric of the film with the help of collaborators both new (veteran costume designer Ruth E. Carter) and familiar (production designer Hannah Beachler, cinematographer Rachel Morrison). But it's within the fraught dynamic between the hero and his primary adversary where "Black Panther" deftly explores subversive and probing concerns around race, history, heritage and identity.
Actor Chadwick Boseman (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
The conflict between an African American and his African [counterpart], is one that has existed since colonialism and since slavery.
CHADWICK BOSEMA
Share quote & link
Building off T'Challa's introduction in "Captain America: Civil War," Boseman steps fully into the hero's suit with stately gravitas as the newly crowned king wavers between his late father's isolationist principles and the impulse to open Wakanda to the world. In the process, he encounters a new threat in the form of a mysterious American dubbed Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan, who has starred in each of Coogler's films to date).
"Most African Americans have had a moment where they're like, 'I know I'm of African descent — but I don't have that connection,'" said the South Carolina-born Boseman. "That's something that needs to be healed. That's something that's broken and has to be made whole. That conflict within the movie, and the conflict between an African American and his African [counterpart], is one that has existed since colonialism and since slavery."
"It's interesting to me because it's an in-house conversation that we're allowing y'all to see," he added with a smile, "that I think will also affect you in a much different way because you bring something different."
He's excited for young people, especially young black men and women, to see themselves reflected onscreen. "The thing that I've noticed is that I have brothers from the continent — people from Nigeria and Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Senegal, South Africa — coming up to me and saying, 'I know you're from here, but you represent what we are back home.' It's touching to me that they get to see an African character onscreen and that they identify with him."
"There will be other people from the States who will see [Michael B. Jordan's] character and identify with him," he added. "I actually do. Because his argument is a valid argument, the disconnection from Africa and the need to know where you come from."
But people of all ages and walks of life will leave the theater with what they bring to it, he muses. "There are also a lot of little white kids that are excited about 'Black Panther' — who I've seen in Black Panther costumes, who want autographs and toys signed — kids that are Asian, Latino," he said. "There's no limitation on ethnicity and gender or even age. All of that is humbling, to say the least."
Chadwick Boseman stars in the latest trailer for Marvel's "Black Panther."
Back in 2013, Boseman was overseas in Zurich promoting "42" when he got the career-changing call from Marvel's head honchos. Boseman admits he weighed the pros of taking on the role against the only con, in his mind — "that Marvel might not be as committed as they should be to making a 'Black Panther' movie on par with the other movies that they make...that it would be some kind of second-class citizen, a second-class superhero movie for black people."
Walking into his first meeting with Marvel's cinematic brain trust, including studio head Kevin Feige and executive producers Louis D'Esposito, Victoria Alonso and Nate Moore, put those fears at ease.
"I went in and I met with them — and I saw that Nate was black," he laughed, "which was important because as a minority you can have this viewpoint of how it looks inside the corporation and inside the building, this view that it's a table full of white men, because we've had to deal with tables full of white men a lot. To walk in there and see that there were women and that one of the shot-callers was black made me feel more comfortable with what was going on."
The battle to realize Black Panther in the right ways began before Coogler came onboard, as Boseman shaped the character for his "Captain America: Civil War" debut. One of his hardest-fought victories was keeping T'Challa's accent grounded in his African roots, for which the actor traveled to South Africa to study and chose a South African dialect coach.
The people of Wakanda had never been conquered by British or other colonists, but unnamed parties behind the scenes suggested T'Challa should have a British accent, an American one or even one just a few shades more European, said Boseman.
Chadwick Boseman explains how he came up with Black Panther's accent from the fictional land of Wakanda
SEP 28, 2016 | 11:15 AM
"Well, why would he have gone to study anywhere? Who could educate him outside of Wakanda?" he argued, opening the door for the "Black Panther" cast to use a range of authentic accents — including the South African tongue isiXhosa, now the official canonical language of Wakanda. "That makes no sense. As wealthy and advanced as [Wakanda is], he must speak to his people in his language and in their sound."
Perhaps surprisingly for an expected blockbuster, "Black Panther" proudly represents not only a wide swath of heritage, history and celebratory black identity but touches openly on the ripple effect their presence and absence can have across generations.
"The truth of the matter is Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and the whole Marvel bullpen created Wakanda and created T'Challa and created Black Panther, and made him a smarter, more accomplished character than any of the other white characters, in the mid-1960s," Feige told journalists at a press conference following the film's premiere.
"They had the guts to do that in the mid-1960s. The least we could do is live up to that and allow this story to be told in the way it needed to be told and not shy away from things that the Marvel founders didn't shy away from in the height of the Civil Rights Era."
The momentum behind "Black Panther" has been palpable even before the Los Angeles world premiere turned Hollywood's Dolby Theatre into a royal affair, where everyone from Ava DuVernay to Snoop Dogg turned out in support. The feeling that the film marks not only a moment but the heralding of a movement in the industry is one Boseman has seen building around him in recent years.
"I think we've been feeling it and talking about it before we could say it," he said. "At this point, with this movie coming out, you can say it. Me as the lead on a poster, at a movie theater, beside John Boyega on a ['Star Wars: The Last Jedi'] poster… You have 'A Wrinkle in Time' following both of those movies. You have 'Atlanta' and 'Insecure' and 'Empire'; it is an interesting moment in film and TV."
Hollywood doesn’t have us in a position where we’re — there’s a term called ‘crabs in a basket’ — fighting over one spot, fighting for position.
CHADWICK BOSEMA
Share quote & link
"It was different being at the [NAACP] Image Awards this year because people were genuinely excited about seeing each other and enjoying each other's work," he continued, citing the acceptance speech DuVernay delivered, which went viral. "Hollywood doesn't have us in a position where we're — there's a term called 'crabs in a basket' — fighting over one spot, fighting for position. There's a celebration to a certain degree of each other's work.
"You couldn't say that three years ago. You couldn't say that five years ago. You couldn't say that when Ryan was doing 'Fruitvale'; there was '42' and 'Selma' — you could feel it easily then, but you couldn't say that."
Ahead of opening his first $200 million movie, Boseman thought back to ten years ago. That's when everything changed thanks to a move from New York, where he was primarily working in theater, to Los Angeles, where his film career took off.
"As soon as I came to L.A., things immediately shifted for me," said Boseman. "I was now actually here with the people who were making the decisions; I wasn't out in New York sending in tapes to L.A."
After a string a TV guest roles, playing Robinson set him down the biopic path, even if he insists the heroic theme that continues through to T'Challa was accidental.
"I don't think you really have a choice but to see a throughline," he chuckled. "It's not necessarily intentional. Well, it is to a certain degree. At a certain point, once you realize what this is, you want to spend your time doing things that will be worth it. And it hasn't been worth it to me to just pick something for the money, or just because it was comfortable or because it was a sure thing.
"[Given] the time spent doing a film and researching it, you're going to come out a different person on the other side — especially if it's a challenge to you. It's always been, 'What is this going to do to make me better?' And that's the throughline."
Boseman, who has a BFA in directing from Howard University and helmed two short films, still plans to direct in the future. He also hopes to make the thriller "Expatriate" for director Barry Jenkins, which he co-scripted, as one of his next projects. But with T'Challa already confirmed to return to screens in this summer's all-hands-on-deck Marvel epic "Avengers: Infinity War," Boseman admits that "Black Panther" commitments have made it trickier to figure out his next steps.
"Is ['Expatriate'] the next thing I'm going to do? I'm not exactly sure how it's going to fall, schedule-wise. I'm trying to open this movie." He paused, correcting himself, and flashed a confident smile. "I'm not trying to. I am opening this movie."
jen.yamato@latimes.com
Kevin Feige: Chadwick Boseman Was ‘Only Choice’ for Black Panther
Kevin Feige has revealed that Chadwick Boseman was Marvel’s “only choice” for the role of T’Challa in Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther (and the MCU as a whole).
In October 2014, Marvel officially announced that Black Panther would be part of the MCU’s Phase 3 slate. Then, it wasn’t much later that they revealed Chadwick Boseman (Get On Up) would be playing the titular character that comic book fans had waited years to see on the big screen. While Boseman was a relatively unknown actor to the general public, it certainly seems like Marvel made the right choice for their T’Challa. Boseman made his debut as Black Panther in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, and now he’s leading his own film in 2018’s Black Panther.
RELATED: DONALD & STEPHEN GLOVER CONSULTED ON BLACK PANTHER SCRIPT
In a recent Black Panther press conference that Screen Rant attended in Los Angeles, Kevin Feige has revealed that Boseman was literally Marvel’s “only choice” for the character.
“I think you hear people say this all the time, when you’re in a setting like this, but he was the only choice. We were – it may not have been this fast, but in my memory, we were sitting around a table, we were coming up with the story for Civil War – Nate Moore, our executive producer, thought – suggested bringing in Black Panther, because we were looking for sort of a third party who wouldn’t necessarily side with Cap or side with Iron Man. And almost instantly, we all said Chadwick. And in my memory, although maybe it was the next day, we got him on a speaker phone right then.”
It’s worth remembering that Civil War was in something of a state of flux at the time. Marvel had hoped to reach an agreement to bring Spider-Man into the MCU in the film, but Sony had turned down Marvel’s first approach for Spidey. Meanwhile, the Russo brothers were keen to introduce a character who wouldn’t take a side. According to Feige, executive producer Nate Moore had the idea to bring in Black Panther. Given the international scope of Civil War, it certainly made sense.
According to Boseman, he was in Zurich, coming off the red carpet for Get On Up. He said: “The crazy thing is that I didn’t even have international calling on my phone, until that morning. Somebody said, ‘Hey, get international on your phone and call your mom.’ And then, that night, [Feige] called.”
In another interview with Screen Rant, Boseman explained that he was delighted to get the call from Marvel. “They have a good batting average,” he quipped. More to the point, when he heard the offer, Boseman believed this film would push the envelope in a fascinating way. Boseman added: “Every project, it has to be something that’s challenging and cool and that’s a challenge for me. It keeps me interested.”
The reality is that Black Panther had always been on Marvel’s radar. Marvel Studios was formed back in 2005, and Marvel initially announced a potential slate of ten films – including, even at that stage, Black Panther. The studio actually hired Mark Bailey to work on an initial script back in 2011. Ultimately, it took the approach of Civil War to make that ambition a reality. Fortunately for the fans, Boseman jumped at the chance to join the MCU and that’s what led to Coogler’s Black Panther film finally coming to fruition.
- By Thomas Bacon
- 02.10.2018
- 3 Comments
Kevin Feige has revealed that Chadwick Boseman was Marvel’s “only choice” for the role of T’Challa in Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther (and the MCU as a whole).
In October 2014, Marvel officially announced that Black Panther would be part of the MCU’s Phase 3 slate. Then, it wasn’t much later that they revealed Chadwick Boseman (Get On Up) would be playing the titular character that comic book fans had waited years to see on the big screen. While Boseman was a relatively unknown actor to the general public, it certainly seems like Marvel made the right choice for their T’Challa. Boseman made his debut as Black Panther in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, and now he’s leading his own film in 2018’s Black Panther.
RELATED: DONALD & STEPHEN GLOVER CONSULTED ON BLACK PANTHER SCRIPT
In a recent Black Panther press conference that Screen Rant attended in Los Angeles, Kevin Feige has revealed that Boseman was literally Marvel’s “only choice” for the character.
“I think you hear people say this all the time, when you’re in a setting like this, but he was the only choice. We were – it may not have been this fast, but in my memory, we were sitting around a table, we were coming up with the story for Civil War – Nate Moore, our executive producer, thought – suggested bringing in Black Panther, because we were looking for sort of a third party who wouldn’t necessarily side with Cap or side with Iron Man. And almost instantly, we all said Chadwick. And in my memory, although maybe it was the next day, we got him on a speaker phone right then.”
It’s worth remembering that Civil War was in something of a state of flux at the time. Marvel had hoped to reach an agreement to bring Spider-Man into the MCU in the film, but Sony had turned down Marvel’s first approach for Spidey. Meanwhile, the Russo brothers were keen to introduce a character who wouldn’t take a side. According to Feige, executive producer Nate Moore had the idea to bring in Black Panther. Given the international scope of Civil War, it certainly made sense.
According to Boseman, he was in Zurich, coming off the red carpet for Get On Up. He said: “The crazy thing is that I didn’t even have international calling on my phone, until that morning. Somebody said, ‘Hey, get international on your phone and call your mom.’ And then, that night, [Feige] called.”
In another interview with Screen Rant, Boseman explained that he was delighted to get the call from Marvel. “They have a good batting average,” he quipped. More to the point, when he heard the offer, Boseman believed this film would push the envelope in a fascinating way. Boseman added: “Every project, it has to be something that’s challenging and cool and that’s a challenge for me. It keeps me interested.”
The reality is that Black Panther had always been on Marvel’s radar. Marvel Studios was formed back in 2005, and Marvel initially announced a potential slate of ten films – including, even at that stage, Black Panther. The studio actually hired Mark Bailey to work on an initial script back in 2011. Ultimately, it took the approach of Civil War to make that ambition a reality. Fortunately for the fans, Boseman jumped at the chance to join the MCU and that’s what led to Coogler’s Black Panther film finally coming to fruition.
good job on SNL
'Black Panther's Chadwick Boseman Says It's Not True That He Doesn't Want to Do the Wakanda Salute
http://comicbook.com/marvel/2018/06...ck-boseman-not-wanting-wakanda-salute-not-tr/
"I think there's been so much talk online about me not wanting to do it, which is not, that's not true, but I think people are scared to do it like, somebody gave me like a halfway one like they were kind of scared to do it outside. I could tell that they were trying to do it but they didn't want to, so I think it's stopping a little bit now," Boseman told MTV.
http://comicbook.com/marvel/2018/06...ck-boseman-not-wanting-wakanda-salute-not-tr/
"I think there's been so much talk online about me not wanting to do it, which is not, that's not true, but I think people are scared to do it like, somebody gave me like a halfway one like they were kind of scared to do it outside. I could tell that they were trying to do it but they didn't want to, so I think it's stopping a little bit now," Boseman told MTV.
Chadwick Boseman Wants Best Picture Oscar For Black Panther, Not Popular Film
Actor Chadwick Boseman says he wants Black Panther to win the Best Picture Oscar, not the Popular Film award. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences added the "outstanding achievement in popular film" category this year, but have yet to announce the criteria. Nobody knows how nominees will be decided, or whether or not it's an insult to be recognized in this new category. Still, Boseman has made it clear that he has a certain preference when it comes to his film Black Panther.
Many would argue that Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther is the most popular film of 2018 and perhaps even the most popular film in the MCU, breaking box office records throughout its theatrical run. The film inspired a huge cultural movement around Wakanda and all that the hero Black Panther represents, not only in the United States, but around the world. It would make sense, then, that many would think of Black Panther when the Academy announced its plans for its newest popular film category this summer. And for the first time, Marvel Studios is putting together a serious awards campaign in an attempt to get Black Panther the accolades it deserves.
Related: Are The Oscars Scared of Disrespecting Black Panther?
But according to Black Panther’s lead actor Chadwick Boseman in an interview with THR, the film is Best Picture material only. The actor explained, “We don't know what it [the new prize] is, so I don't know whether to be happy about it or not. What I can say is that there's no campaign [that we are mounting] for popular film; like, if there's a campaign, it's for best picture, and that's all there is to it.” Later on in the interview, Boseman further spoke to why in his mind, Black Panther should only be considered for the Best Picture category.
“What we did was very difficult. We created a world, we created a culture ... we had to create a religion, a spirituality, a politics; we had to create an accent; we had to pull from different cultures to create clothing styles and hair styles. It's very much like a period piece. ... So, as far as that's concerned, I dare any movie to try to compare to the [level of] difficulty of this one. And the fact that so many people liked it — if you just say it's [merely] popular, that's elitist.”
The film industry reacted violently to the Academy’s plans for the new category. Many think negatively of the popular film award, arguing that it is an insult to audiences and filmmakers alike and that the move reflects the Academy’s attempts to cater to popular audiences and drive viewership to its televised awards ceremony, which has seen a marked decline in viewers over the years. Others, such as Mark Wahlberg or Jason Blum, have made efforts to openly support the category and urge others not to judge it too quickly. The conversation has grown so heated within the industry that the Academy is already considering scrapping the plans for the new category completely.
Ever since plans for the popular film award was announced, everybody’s attention turned to Black Panther, a movie that many believe would be a shoo-in for a nomination and win in the category. But as Boseman’s comments point out, a lot went into this film that some Academy voters might push aside as a “simple” popular comic book flick. The issue also raises the question – even if Black Panther was the most popular film of the year, does that mean it is undeserving of the Best Picture award?
Black Panther sparked important cultural and political discussions after its release due to its illumination of certain social issues. Now, it is at the center of an entirely new debate: the politics of Hollywood’s awards season. If the Academy decides to keep its new category in “outstanding achievement in popular film”, there’s no doubt that it will be very interesting watching what films get nominated for which categories and who the winner of this brand new category will end up being – and perhaps most importantly, what exactly that win will mean for the film industry as a whole moving into the future.
Actor Chadwick Boseman says he wants Black Panther to win the Best Picture Oscar, not the Popular Film award. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences added the "outstanding achievement in popular film" category this year, but have yet to announce the criteria. Nobody knows how nominees will be decided, or whether or not it's an insult to be recognized in this new category. Still, Boseman has made it clear that he has a certain preference when it comes to his film Black Panther.
Many would argue that Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther is the most popular film of 2018 and perhaps even the most popular film in the MCU, breaking box office records throughout its theatrical run. The film inspired a huge cultural movement around Wakanda and all that the hero Black Panther represents, not only in the United States, but around the world. It would make sense, then, that many would think of Black Panther when the Academy announced its plans for its newest popular film category this summer. And for the first time, Marvel Studios is putting together a serious awards campaign in an attempt to get Black Panther the accolades it deserves.
Related: Are The Oscars Scared of Disrespecting Black Panther?
But according to Black Panther’s lead actor Chadwick Boseman in an interview with THR, the film is Best Picture material only. The actor explained, “We don't know what it [the new prize] is, so I don't know whether to be happy about it or not. What I can say is that there's no campaign [that we are mounting] for popular film; like, if there's a campaign, it's for best picture, and that's all there is to it.” Later on in the interview, Boseman further spoke to why in his mind, Black Panther should only be considered for the Best Picture category.
“What we did was very difficult. We created a world, we created a culture ... we had to create a religion, a spirituality, a politics; we had to create an accent; we had to pull from different cultures to create clothing styles and hair styles. It's very much like a period piece. ... So, as far as that's concerned, I dare any movie to try to compare to the [level of] difficulty of this one. And the fact that so many people liked it — if you just say it's [merely] popular, that's elitist.”
The film industry reacted violently to the Academy’s plans for the new category. Many think negatively of the popular film award, arguing that it is an insult to audiences and filmmakers alike and that the move reflects the Academy’s attempts to cater to popular audiences and drive viewership to its televised awards ceremony, which has seen a marked decline in viewers over the years. Others, such as Mark Wahlberg or Jason Blum, have made efforts to openly support the category and urge others not to judge it too quickly. The conversation has grown so heated within the industry that the Academy is already considering scrapping the plans for the new category completely.
Ever since plans for the popular film award was announced, everybody’s attention turned to Black Panther, a movie that many believe would be a shoo-in for a nomination and win in the category. But as Boseman’s comments point out, a lot went into this film that some Academy voters might push aside as a “simple” popular comic book flick. The issue also raises the question – even if Black Panther was the most popular film of the year, does that mean it is undeserving of the Best Picture award?
Black Panther sparked important cultural and political discussions after its release due to its illumination of certain social issues. Now, it is at the center of an entirely new debate: the politics of Hollywood’s awards season. If the Academy decides to keep its new category in “outstanding achievement in popular film”, there’s no doubt that it will be very interesting watching what films get nominated for which categories and who the winner of this brand new category will end up being – and perhaps most importantly, what exactly that win will mean for the film industry as a whole moving into the future.
Wakandans nearly had British accents in Black Panther movie
By Justina Terhember | Published Date September 8, 2018
The Wakandan characters in Marvel’s ‘Black Panther’ spoke to each other in a distinctive accent that was faint enough to be understood by movie-goers. Some characters spoke in an accent identified as being based on South Africa’s Xhosa, and some even the Igbo accent, from Nigeria (like fan-favorite M’Baku). But in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, star Chadwick Boseman revealed that one of the early possibilities for the conception of his character T’Challa, who was introduced in 2016’s ‘Captain America: Civil War’.
Boseman explained that, while he favored an African accent for the character, Marvel initially proposed that Wakandans would have a British sound. “They felt that it was maybe too much for an audience to take,” he said. “I felt the exact opposite – like, if I speak with a British accent, what’s gonna happen when I go home? It felt to me like a deal-breaker.”
To get the right quality for his accent, Boseman worked with a dialect coach, and the voice of every Wakandan character seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has followed suit.
‘Black Panther’ was co-written and directed by the 32-year-old Ryan Coogler, and is the 18th installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe – and, significantly, the first Marvel film to center on a black superhero and feature a predominantly black cast. Made for $200 million, it debuted in the U.S. on Jan. 29 2017, and logged what was then the fifth-highest-grossing (and is now the sixth-highest-grossing) opening weekend in history, with a haul of $202 million – and then remained atop the box-office charts for the next four weekends.
It now stands as 2018’s highest-grossing movie domestically, with grosses totalling $700 million, and the year’s second-highest-grossing movie worldwide, having taken in $1.3 billion (behind only another Marvel film, Avengers: Infinity War). And, with a 97% favorable rating on RottenTomatoes.com, it is also one of the year’s 10 best-reviewed films.
Much of ‘Black Panther’s success is attributable to the commanding performance by Boseman as T’Challa, the king who suits up and becomes, when necessary, Black Panther.
By Justina Terhember | Published Date September 8, 2018
The Wakandan characters in Marvel’s ‘Black Panther’ spoke to each other in a distinctive accent that was faint enough to be understood by movie-goers. Some characters spoke in an accent identified as being based on South Africa’s Xhosa, and some even the Igbo accent, from Nigeria (like fan-favorite M’Baku). But in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, star Chadwick Boseman revealed that one of the early possibilities for the conception of his character T’Challa, who was introduced in 2016’s ‘Captain America: Civil War’.
Boseman explained that, while he favored an African accent for the character, Marvel initially proposed that Wakandans would have a British sound. “They felt that it was maybe too much for an audience to take,” he said. “I felt the exact opposite – like, if I speak with a British accent, what’s gonna happen when I go home? It felt to me like a deal-breaker.”
To get the right quality for his accent, Boseman worked with a dialect coach, and the voice of every Wakandan character seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has followed suit.
‘Black Panther’ was co-written and directed by the 32-year-old Ryan Coogler, and is the 18th installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe – and, significantly, the first Marvel film to center on a black superhero and feature a predominantly black cast. Made for $200 million, it debuted in the U.S. on Jan. 29 2017, and logged what was then the fifth-highest-grossing (and is now the sixth-highest-grossing) opening weekend in history, with a haul of $202 million – and then remained atop the box-office charts for the next four weekends.
It now stands as 2018’s highest-grossing movie domestically, with grosses totalling $700 million, and the year’s second-highest-grossing movie worldwide, having taken in $1.3 billion (behind only another Marvel film, Avengers: Infinity War). And, with a 97% favorable rating on RottenTomatoes.com, it is also one of the year’s 10 best-reviewed films.
Much of ‘Black Panther’s success is attributable to the commanding performance by Boseman as T’Challa, the king who suits up and becomes, when necessary, Black Panther.
Michael B. Jordan Got Chadwick Boseman’s All My Children Role After Boseman Was Fired
By Bethy Squires
Photo: Charley Gallay/2014 Getty Images
Michael B. Jordan and Chadwick Boseman’s paths crossed long before Black Panther. Both men had brief stints on the long-running soap All My Children, although Boseman’s was way shorter. According to The Wrap’s Oscar issue, Boseman was brought onto the soap as Reggie Montgomery, a teen adopted by Susan Lucci’s Erica Kane.
Boseman voiced his opinions, and was promptly fired for being to difficult, but by the time Jordan got the role, some of the more stereotypical edges had been sanded off the part. “They said, ‘You are too much trouble,’ but they took my suggestions, or some of them,” said Boseman. “And for me, honestly, that’s what this is about.” Jordan expressed his gratitude for what Boseman had done: “I’m younger than Chad, and I was coming into All My Children fresh off The Wire — wide open, still learning. I was playing this role not knowing that a lot of the things I was going through were because of what he’d already done for me.”
By Bethy Squires
Photo: Charley Gallay/2014 Getty Images
Michael B. Jordan and Chadwick Boseman’s paths crossed long before Black Panther. Both men had brief stints on the long-running soap All My Children, although Boseman’s was way shorter. According to The Wrap’s Oscar issue, Boseman was brought onto the soap as Reggie Montgomery, a teen adopted by Susan Lucci’s Erica Kane.
Boseman objected to how the character was written, as a stereotypical thug. “I remember going home and thinking, ‘Do I say something to them about this? Do I just do it?’ And I couldn’t just do it. I had to voice my opinions and put my stamp on it,” he said.
Boseman voiced his opinions, and was promptly fired for being to difficult, but by the time Jordan got the role, some of the more stereotypical edges had been sanded off the part. “They said, ‘You are too much trouble,’ but they took my suggestions, or some of them,” said Boseman. “And for me, honestly, that’s what this is about.” Jordan expressed his gratitude for what Boseman had done: “I’m younger than Chad, and I was coming into All My Children fresh off The Wire — wide open, still learning. I was playing this role not knowing that a lot of the things I was going through were because of what he’d already done for me.”