Just as Disney+ will soon imagine different fates for Marvel characters with the series What If…?, Black Panther actor Chadwick Boseman had a moment of this sort back before becoming T’Challa. He first met with the casting director of the expansive comic book universe during an audition for Drax the Destroyer in Guardians of the Galaxy. That’s right! Don’t worry though, Boseman didn’t see the casting either. Here’s what he said about going up for the bulked-up brute:
It was just good to come in and play and see what they did with it. Sometimes that’s the way it works as an actor. You go in knowing you’re not going to get it, but you know you’re meeting the people that are going to be like ‘He’s not this, but we’ll put him in this other thing.' I feel like that was one of the moments where they were like ‘We can use him later.'
Chadwick Boseman admitted going in he didn’t think he’d nab the role that Dave Bautista ended up portraying in the Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers films. The Black Panther actor went on to commend Marvel Studios for their intuition in the casting department. When he went up for the audition, he only had a couple pages to go off of. When he saw what the character became in the Guardians movies, it’s completely different from anything else the studio had done prior and anything he would have contributed to the role.
Although auditioning against Dave Bautisa for a role so perfectly fit for him may have been a tough break for Chadwick Boseman initially, the actor thinks they may have remembered him when they started casting for Black Panther. So his ‘failed’ audition may have been exactly what got him through the door! That’s pretty sweet! Check out his interview on the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon below:
The actor is currently promoting his new film 21 Bridges, produced by Avengers’ Russo Brothers. The crime drama follows Chadwick Boseman as an NYPD detective who is on the hunt for two cop killers. Ahead of it’s upcoming release, the film is receiving mixed reviews from critics (read our middling review).
Chadwick Boseman is gearing up to come back as T’Challa in the recently announced Black Panther 2 coming in 2022, following the phenomenon of the 2018 film. The actor has had a whirlwind few years, as his Marvel character has appeared in four massive blockbusters since he was introduced to the big screen in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War.
The actor also previously portraying Jackie Robinson in 42 and James Brown in Get On Up likely showcased his talents to Marvel execs too! Check out Boseman in 21 Bridges, coming to theaters on November 22.
