Black Panther is one of the highly popular superheroes with the late actor, Chadwick Boseman bringing it to life in the 2016 film, Captain America: Civil War. Soon after, he reprised his role in its standalone film titled, Black Panther. It was an incredible hit both critically and commercially grossing over $1.3 billion worldwide.
But before the acclaimed actor donned the all-black suit, Wesley Snipes was hired to play the role. Unfortunately, his project never got the green light however, he was not the only one to play the Wakanda King’s role. Even the Guardians of the Galaxy actor, Djimon Housou was considered to play the Wakanda native alongside the Fantastic Four in a scrapped sequel!
Djimon Hounsou Nearly Played Black Panther in Fantastic Four 3
Tim Story, who directed the Fantastic Four film series once shared how there was a third installment in the making that could have featured the protector of Wakanda, Black Panther.
It’s well known that the 20th Century Fox movies were unable to impress fans and critics but he still went ahead with a third project. He even decided to bring Djimon Hounsou to portray the role of T’Challa in the scrapped film.
“I’ve got to tell you, to get the ‘Fantastic Four’ and turn it into a franchise, the first thing I thought was, ‘Will I get the Silver Surfer’? Or someone like [the superhero] Black Panther, who was introduced in their book, get Djimon Hounsou and go do it?’ But there are so many other great villains and stories – I feel like I hit the jackpot.”
The film was eventually canceled due to several factors with Story’s concept never came to fruition. Before his arrival with Marvel’s first family, Wesley Snipes was in plans for the Black Panther film which never saw light.
Before Chadwick Boseman, Wesley Snipes Almost Played the Black Panther Role
Back in the 1990s, the Blade actor was associated with playing the titular role in an unmade Black Panther film. In an interview with Collider, he revealed that the film was indeed in the works.
“That is absolutely true, and we had three scripts, three versions of scripts written when we held the rights to Black Panther. That was in the early ’90s. Maybe ’92, ’93, ’94, in that area somewhere.”
However, it was stuck due to many hurdles whether it be multiple scripts or finding the right director for the film.
“We didn’t have the technology we have now. Pixar didn’t exist. None of the things, the CGI capabilities that we have now existed, and you know, people… Even the thought of the name ‘Black Panther’ in the zeitgeist of Hollywood had a reference to the national revolutionary group versus the comic book. So it was hard to make. Long story long, we didn’t end up making it, the rights went back, converted back, and then ‘Blade’ came along. [I] rocked with that.”
Eventually, he was able to get prominence with the 1998 film, Blade. But the character was eventually brought to screen by the late actor, Chadwick Boseman.
Black Panther is available to watch on Disney+.
Source: LA Times
