There can always be a bit of concern whenever a series boasts an ensemble cast that some characters won’t get their chance to shine. However, it would seem that in Marvel’s What It..?, the studio made it a priority to celebrate late actor Chadwick Boseman’s final performance as the Black Panther. In an interview with IGN, executive producer Brad Winderbaum shared Boseman will be reprising his role as King T’Challa four times throughout the upcoming series, as well as how excited he was for the opportunity to work on the project.
“Unfortunately, he never was able to see the finished product, but he was very excited about taking part in it. He actually appears in four episodes of the series, playing different versions of the character, and each time, he was just so enthusiastic about finding a new spin on the character.”
As of right now, we know the plot of only one of the episodes Boseman is confirmed to take part in. In that episode, Marvel explores what would have happened if Guardians of the Galaxy‘s Yondu had abducted T’Challa rather than Peter Quill. In a separate IGN interview with What If..? director Bryan Andrews, the director revealed Boseman “loved” this take and playing “a version of T’Challa that didn’t have the mantle of the king, where he could be a little bit lighter, a little bit funny, crack jokes, flirt a little bit with the on-again, off-again love interest.”
In another episode, we see the Iron Man himself, Tony Stark, rescued by Erik Killmonger prior to the events of Iron Man. It feels pretty safe to say that we’ll see T’Challa make an appearance in this episode as well, seeing as Erik is the King of Wakanda’s primary antagonist in Black Panther.
While it still feels far too many decades early to even think about a final performance from Boseman, it sounds like the one we have celebrates the actor’s versatility and allowed him to have a bit of fun with the role — and we can’t wait to see it. Marvel’s What If..? premieres August 11 exclusively on Disney+.