The Nerdz Lounge.

Don't forget Wesley Snipes portrayed Blade in three successful films.

The first issue will make you a believer.

 

Oh!!! A tuba??? I feel ya on that one.

 

I see what you mean, but I consider Blade to be of the old guard of comic book movies. Black Panther was the first Black hero with his own title of the new era.

 

Holy crap I literally just posted the exact same thing elsewhere lol.

 

Well I feel for whoever takes a shot because they have huge shoes to fill. Honestly I think they're gonna give it to Shuri

 

Marvel is in a really tough spot, and there are no "good" options. It's probably way too early to really even be thinking about this (so ya know, subject to change...). But I tend to think giving the mantle to Shuri is definitely more of a sign of respect for Chadwick Boseman than any kind of slight against black men.

Who could they possibly name in the next year or two that wouldn't just crumble under the weight? Which actor would we possibly accept? I wouldn't be shocked if the role couldn't be recast until next generation, the same time they recast Tony Stark and Steve Rogers.

But again, all this is still raw. Maybe things look and feel different next year.

 

Ryan Coogler Tribute to Chadwick Boseman



"Before sharing my thoughts on the passing of the great Chadwick Boseman, I first offer my condolences to his family who meant so very much to him. To his wife, Simone, especially.

I inherited Marvel and the Russo Brothers' casting choice of T'Challa. It is something that I will forever be grateful for. The first time I saw Chad's performance as T'Challa, it was in an unfinished cut of Captain America: Civil War. I was deciding whether or not directing Black Panther was the right choice for me. I'll never forget, sitting in an editorial suite on the Disney Lot and watching his scenes. His first with Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, then, with the South African cinema titan, John Kani as T'Challa's father, King T'Chaka. It was at that moment I knew I wanted to make this movie. After Scarlett's character leaves them, Chad and John began conversing in a language I had never heard before. It sounded familiar, full of the same clicks and smacks that young black children would make in the States. The same clicks that we would often be chided for being disrespectful or improper. But, it had a musicality to it that felt ancient, powerful, and African.

In my meeting after watching the film, I asked Nate Moore, one of the producers of the film, about the language. 'Did you guys make it up?' Nate replied, 'that's Xhosa, John Kani's native language. He and Chad decided to do the scene like that on set, and we rolled with it.' I thought to myself, 'He just learned lines in another language, that day?' I couldn't conceive how difficult that must have been, and even though I hadn't met Chad, I was already in awe of his capacity as actor.

I learned later that there was much conversation over how T'Challa would sound in the film. The decision to have Xhosa be the official language of Wakanda was solidified by Chad, a native of South Carolina, because he was able to learn his lines in Xhosa, there on the spot. He also advocated for his character to speak with an African accent, so that he could present T'Challa to audiences as an African king, whose dialect had not been conquered by the West.

I finally met Chad in person in early 2016, once I signed onto the film. He snuck past journalists that were congregated for a press junket I was doing for Creed, and met with me in the green room. We talked about our lives, my time playing football in college, and his time at Howard studying to be a director, about our collective vision for T'Challa and Wakanda. We spoke about the irony of how his former Howard classmate Ta-Nehisi Coates was writing T'Challa’s current arc with Marvel Comics. And how Chad knew Howard student Prince Jones, who's murder by a police officer inspired Coates' memoir Between The World and Me.

I noticed then that Chad was an anomaly. He was calm. Assured. Constantly studying. But also kind, comforting, had the warmest laugh in the world, and eyes that seen much beyond his years, but could still sparkle like a child seeing something for the first time.

That was the first of many conversations. He was a special person. We would often speak about heritage and what it means to be African. When preparing for the film, he would ponder every decision, every choice, not just for how it would reflect on himself, but how those choices could reverberate. 'They not ready for this, what we are doing…' 'This is Star Wars, this is Lord of the Rings, but for us… and bigger!' He would say this to me while we were struggling to finish a dramatic scene, stretching into double overtime. Or while he was covered in body paint, doing his own stunts. Or crashing into frigid water, and foam landing pads. I would nod and smile, but I didn't believe him. I had no idea if the film would work. I wasn't sure I knew what I was doing. But I look back and realize that Chad knew something we all didn't. He was playing the long game. All while putting in the work. And work he did.

He would come to auditions for supporting roles, which is not common for lead actors in big budget movies. He was there for several M'Baku auditions. In Winston Duke's, he turned a chemistry read into a wrestling match. Winston broke his bracelet. In Letitia Wright's audition for Shuri, she pierced his royal poise with her signature humor, and would bring about a smile to T'Challa’s face that was 100% Chad.

While filming the movie, we would meet at the office or at my rental home in Atlanta, to discuss lines and different ways to add depth to each scene. We talked costumes, military practices. He said to me, “'Wakandans have to dance during the coronations. If they just stand there with spears, what separates them from Romans?' In early drafts of the script. Eric Killmonger's character would ask T'Challa to be buried in Wakanda. Chad challenged that and asked, what if Killmonger asked to be buried somewhere else?

Chad deeply valued his privacy, and I wasn't privy to the details of his illness. After his family released their statement, I realized that he was living with his illness the entire time I knew him. Because he was a caretaker, a leader, and a man of faith, dignity and pride, he shielded his collaborators from his suffering. He lived a beautiful life. And he made great art. Day after day, year after year. That was who he was. He was an epic firework display. I will tell stories about being there for some of the brilliant sparks till the end of my days. What an incredible mark he's left for us.

I haven't grieved a loss this acute before. I spent the last year preparing, imagining and writing words for him to say, that we weren't destined to see. It leaves me broken knowing that I won't be able to watch another close-up of him in the monitor again or walk up to him and ask for another take.

It hurts more to know that we can't have another conversation, or facetime, or text message exchange. He would send vegetarian recipes and eating regimens for my family and me to follow during the pandemic. He would check in on me and my loved ones, even as he dealt with the scourge of cancer.

In African cultures we often refer to loved ones that have passed on as ancestors. Sometimes you are genetically related. Sometimes you are not. I had the privilege of directing scenes of Chad's character, T'Challa, communicating with the ancestors of Wakanda. We were in Atlanta, in an abandoned warehouse, with bluescreens, and massive movie lights, but Chad’s performance made it feel real. I think it was because from the time that I met him, the ancestors spoke through him. It's no secret to me now how he was able to skillfully portray some of our most notable ones. I had no doubt that he would live on and continue to bless us with more. But it is with a heavy heart and a sense of deep gratitude to have ever been in his presence, that I have to reckon with the fact that Chad is an ancestor now. And I know that he will watch over us, until we meet again."

 

Great minds think alike.

 

I think him being ill is the reason BP2 was scheduled so far into the 2022. Maybe, he let Marvel know what time it was so it would give him time to get healthy had he beat it or give them time to go a different route if the worst happened.

 

Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood Gets A New Trailer


The game is currently set to be released on February 4th, 2021, for PC, PS4, Xbox One, and both next-gen consoles.

 

I don't know but if Joaquin Phoenix could follow up behind Heath Ledger then it should be doable.

 

BP2 is going to get pushed back no matter what happens. I'd be shocked if they start filming before 2023. By that time the sting of Chadwick's passing will have abated enough for serious discussion of his successor to take place. My early vote is John David Washington.

BP2 has to come out in this current generation of the MCU. Marvel won't reboot their cash cow continuity for at least 10-15 years, and they can't just ignore that huge corner of the MCU universe for that long, not after the record-breaking success of the first movie.

I also think it would be a terrible mistake story-wise to replace T'Challa with Shuri. They'd have to either have T'Challa die off-screen or hire an actor to play him while he hands over the reins to his sister, and both options would look terrible.

Black Panther was set to be a major cornerstone of the MCU going forward, there was talk about Namor being introduced through him (in the comics Wakanda and Atlantis were rivals who went to war against each other) as well as talk of the MCU's Illuminati. There really isn't any other logical thing to do other than recast in my opinion.

 

A fresh game play trailer for Quantum Error has emerged, the horror FPS coming exclusively to PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4.

 

It'll be Shuri. It's already cannon and aligns with their woke politics.

 

Good point. Then again, Phoenix wasn't cast for years after Ledger's death. Also it's not like Phoenix took over for Ledger in the Nolan-verse. Had Christopher Nolan continued making Batman movies, recasting Joker would've been much more of a mess.

 

It's not a perfect example but I still think the magnitude of difficulty was still there.

Heath Ledgers joker was one of the best performances ever. So even tho it's not exactly the same dynamics the level of difficulty was there imo.

 

I have no problem with Shuri taking over. As of now, I'm dubious about recasting T'Challa. Imagine recasting Superman in 1982 if Christopher Reeve had just died (I'm showing my age here lol). John David Washington is on my short list too tho!

Yes, losing T'Challa hurts. I wish this wasn't so. But maybe this is an opportunity to create a new character who wouldn't have existed otherwise. Or maybe this gets us a good Luke Cage movie.

I'm curious what your opinions are about this scenario:
- Marvel comic writers immediately start writing "The Death of T'Challa" for the comic book canon and create a new male successor to the mantle
- the MCU goes ahead with giving Shuri the Black Panther mantle in BP2
- BP2 includes CGI footage of Chadwick Boseman, giving him a send off similar to Paul Walker in Furious 7
- M'Baku's role is played up in BP2 to properly include strong positive black male energy in the film (making it a team up like Captain America/Black Widow in Winter Soldier or Captain Marvel/Nick Fury)
- Black Panther 3 sees a new male Black Panther who isn't T'Challa (the new character the comic writers created)

I got this proposed blueprint from a YouTuber named Grace Randolph. You can check it out for yourself. She actually did two videos on Chadwick Boseman today.