Chadwick Boseman on Black Panther’s role in Captain America: Civil War

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

If you caught the new Entertainment Weekly cover this morning, you'd have seen Captain America (Chris Evans), Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), and Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) sharing a heroic pose together. We know that CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR will pit Steve Rogers against Tony Stark, but what of T'Challa? Which side of the conflict will he land on?

Well, it seems as though his allegiance won't be entirely clear as executive producer Nate Moore told Entertainment Weekly that Black Panther will be "the undecided voter."

He’s someone who hasn’t necessarily made up his mind about either side and whose agenda isn’t exactly what Cap’s agenda or what Tony’s agenda is.  And I think that brings him into conflict weirdly with both characters at different times in the film. He is the prince of an African nation that has so far stayed very much sort of in the shadows. And eventually the film will draw him and his father out of the shadows.

Chadwick Boseman on the mysterious nature of his character:

He’s definitely not the life of the party in this instance. I think this is something true of the comic book character and the movie. You never quite know where he stands. There’s always a bit of concealing and mystery. So I think mysterious is more his boat. Not to say there’s not charm and he can’t be a ladies’ man and all that. It’s more like if there is humor, it’s more like James Bond.

On Black Panther's suit:

The vibranium is a metal that is dynamic. It can change how it’s used. It’s not a liquid, but it has the ability to change shape and change form and still have its strength. I think there a lot of things about that in the mythology that I think has a lot of potential in terms of the storytelling… It’s not just about being durable, it has the ability to absorb energy. It’s not just like you hit it and it doesn’t take it. It has the ability to absorb the attack of another person and repel or respond to that attack. That’s part of the power.

After the events of AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON, the world leaders enacted the Sokovia Accords as a way to mandate control over those with "enhanced abilities," because of this, T'Challa finds himself drawn into the conflict.

There definitely is a sort of tradition that he’s torn between, in terms of how things were done in the past and how things need to happen now in this new world, I think there’s perhaps a bit of a maverick there, and then there’s also a need to live up to traditions and his father’s legacy. And not even his father’s legacy, but the entire nation of Wakanda. I think those are the things you will see.

As Black Panther will butting heads with both Iron Man and Captain America, it's only natural that he'll be sharing a scene or two with both characters. Despite the conflict Chris Evans seems to think that Steve Rogers and T'Challa could become friends in future, saying "I love our scenes together because I do think they feel a sense of responsibility. I think they’re both very selfless people, they want the right thing, no one’s irrational, no one has an inflated ego. They’re family-first people, I think outside of the suits we’d be friends, Steve and T’Challa." Even with everyone singing Black Panther and Chadwick Boseman's praises, the character almost didn't make it into CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR; Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige elaborates:

We kept talking about ‘somebody like Black Panther …’ After the third or fourth time that came up in a development meeting, someone said, ‘Can’t we just do the Black Panther?’ And we all looked at each other and said, ‘Yeah, I guess we could.' We introduce him here, give him an arc, and make him a full character. We don’t just give him a cameo, to wave. He has his own conflict and his own people that he’s looking out for.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR will hit theaters on May 6, 2016.