Fans of the late-great Chadwick Boseman get to hear him voice T’Challa one last time in this week’s episode of Marvel’s What If…?
What If…? explores many hypothetical scenarios of major events in the Marvel universe, such as, per THR, “what if T’Challa was not the Black Panther but rather Star-Lord for the Guardians of the Galaxy?”
Several MCU stars are back to voice their characters including Michael B. Jordan (Killmonger), Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier), Josh Brolin (Thanos), Mark Ruffalo (Hulk), Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Samuel L. Jackson, (Nick Fury), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Karen Gillan (Nebula), Jeremy Renner (Clint Barton/Hawkeye), Paul Rudd (Scott Lang/Ant-Man), Michael Douglas (Hank Pym), Neal McDonough (Dum Dum Duggan), Dominic Cooper (Howard Stark), Sean Gunn (Kraglin), Natalie Portman (Jane Foster), David Dastmalchian (Kurt), Stanley Tucci (Dr. Abraham Erskine), Taika Waititi (Korg), Toby Jones (Arnim Zola), Djimon Hounsou (Korath), Jeff Goldblum (Grandmaster), Michael Rooker (Yondu), and Chris Sullivan (Taserface).
Jeffrey Wright narrates each episode as the Watcher.
What If…? hails from writer A.C. Bradley with Bryan Andrews directing. Producers include Marvel boss Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, and Brad Winderbaum. The project is Marvel Studios’ first animated series since becoming its own production company.
In the latest episode that is streaming now, instead of Black Panther protecting Wakanda — he’s helping space outlaws become better men, per Yahoo.
“First of all, the ability to be in any way related to T’Challa and Chadwick Boseman is an incredible honor,” said This Is Us actor Chris Sullivan, who voices his Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 character Taserface in the Disney+ animated series. “There was a lot of feelings that came up hearing him and seeing him even in animated form. To see the love he was able to spread to Taserface (and) to also soften the edges on Yondu and all of those guys as well is a fun space to explore.”
“He really approached the material as seriously and as soulfully as I imagine he approached any of his work,” said Winderbaum.
Boseman reportedly recorded multiple versions of T’Challa for the series “and each one was just a nuanced performance based on a lot of deep thought you could tell from his part and how we wanted to portray the character,” said Winderbaum.
Boseman died in August 2020 after a private four-year battle with colon cancer, and Winderbaum noted that “it was frankly so humbling to know that he spent any time working with us” amid his ailing health.
Check out below the fan reactions to seeing Boseman as T’Challa one last time in the new episode of Marvel’s What If…?.
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