Damson Idris breaks his silence on Black Panther recast rumors in the most unexpected way

Amid rumors of a new Black Panther coming to the MCU, one fan favorite candidate has addressed them in a surprising way!

With Avengers: Doomsday coming in December, expectations are high for this new MCU epic. That includes the buzz that the story and the follow-up Secret Wars might lead to a “reboot” of the entire MCU with new actors in the roles.

One character many believe can be affected is Black Panther, with various actors being cited by fans as good picks to play the monarch/hero. Among them is Damson Idris, and while the actor has previously denied any knowledge, a recent Instagram post had him reacting to an artist imagining him in the role with the iconic line “Wakanda Forever.”

Why we need a new Black Panther

The sad saga of the Black Panther in the MCU has been well documented, but worth repeating. Chadwick Boseman was perfect as T’Challa, king of the advanced African nation of Wakanda and its champion the Black Panther. After debuting in Captain America: Civil War, his 2017 Black Panther movie was a box office smash and the only MCU film to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar.

The obvious plan was for Boseman to step up as a lead actor in the franchise post-Endgame. That tragically ended when the actor shockingly passed away from cancer in 2020. The script for what became Wakanda Forever was to have T’Challa returning from “The Blip” to discover his love, Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), had birthed their son. T’Challa would then clash with Namor (Tenoch Huerta) while becoming a dad.

With Boseman gone, Marvel decided not to recast the role, and so Wakanda Forever opened with T’Challa dying of an illness. That led to his sister Shuri (Letitia Wright) becoming the new Panther. At the time, fans understood and agreed that replacing Boseman would have been a painful move.

As the years have passed, however, there have been fans saying that recasting the role and keeping to the original plans for T’Challa might have worked out better. That’s especially true given how the MCU seems to have lost some steam in the last few years. Altering the plans for T’Challa being absent threw off a lot, and Wakanda Forever might have been better keeping to the original concept.

Granted, any actor taking over after Boseman would have been judged but it’s hardly the first time something like this has happened. With more time passing and the possibility of an MCU reboot coming, a fresh T’Challa would be far more welcomed by the fanbase. He was always a compelling character and Idris would be a perfect choice for the role. With a third Black Panther film in the works, the chances of somehow bringing back T'Challa are high given how comic book characters return from the dead a lot.

Idris is certainly would be a solid pick for the role should Marvel proceed with recasting the character. He rose to fame starring in the FX crime drama Snowfall, earning acclaim for his turn as a rising drug lord. He recently moved to big-screen attention, starring in the Oscar-nominated racing drama F1. Born in London and of Nigerian descent, Idris has the charisma and physicality to portray T’Challa and may very well fill one of the MCU’s biggest gaps.

This is all speculation for now, but fans are hopeful it can happen as the Black Panther deserves to roar again in the MCU.