While Black Panther will make his MCU debut in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, he’ll first get a chance to shine on his own when his solo movie is released a year later. Aside from Chadwick Boseman playing titular character T’Challa, however, no other cast members have been announced. Since Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy 2 and Thor: Raganrok are all preceding Black Panther, it will probably be a while until we learn who the main players will be - but that isn’t stopping one actor from cluing Marvel in on a role he’d like to play in the African superhero’s solo adventure: Black Panther's father, T'Chaka.
Lance Reddick, most famous for his role as Cedric Daniels on HBO's hit series The Wire and as Phillip Broyles in Fringe, has expressed interest in playing T’Chaka, the previous king of Wakanda, on IGN’s Keepin’ It Reel podcast. Discussing the comic book movie during the conversation, Reddick told the hosts,
If there's an independent Black Panther movie, I'd love to play T'Chaka....if it's an origin story.
Fortunately for Lance Reddick, there’s plenty of time for Marvel to look for the right candidates - though it is still unclear how much of the Black Panther movie will delve into the titular superhero’s backstory. In the comics, T’Chaka was killed by a deranged scientist named Ulysses Klaw, who attempted to steal a supply of Wakanda’s most cherished natural resource, vibranium. Given that it seems Andy Serkis is playing Klaw in Avengers: Age of Ultron, it’s possible the Black Panther movie will take the same path and make Klaw T’Chaka’s murderer.
It's important to note that Black Panther is the identity used by every Wakandan king going back centuries, so if Reddick scores the role that role of T'Chaka, he may even get the opportunity to put on the superhero costume. And because there’s only a 14 year age difference between Reddick and Boseman, Reddick’s appearance as T’Chaka would either be in a flashback or he would have to have a lot of makeup applied to look older. Since T’Challa was a young boy when his father was killed in the comics, the former is the likelier choice.
Beyond the possible Black Panther role, Lance Reddick also expressed interest in perhaps heading over to the DC Comics side of things, namely by possibly portraying Martian Manhunter or John Stewart, one of Earth’s Green Lanterns. Warner Bros. has yet to cast anyone as the new Green Lantern yet, although Tyrese Gibson has been campaigning heavily recently to score the role. As for Martian Manhunter, although he was a founding member of the Justice League in the Silver Age of Comics, his spot was taken by Cyborg in the New 52 reboot - and it seems the same thing will be happening on the big screen. Since the DCCU is being partially inspired by the New 52 and Warner Bros’ has big plans for Cyborg, it’s unlikely we’ll see Martian Manhunter on the big screen anytime soon. Reddick should probably focus his energy on Marvel and spend more energy campaigning for T’Chaka. He’ll probably get killed off, but at least he’ll be able to leave his mark on the MCU.
Black Panther will be released on November 3, 2017.
