Martin Freeman Talks Filming 'Black Panther' Sequel Without Chadwick Boseman

Filming for the "Black Panther" sequel just concluded, and the cast members are still feeling Chadwick Boseman's absence quite strongly. The actor passed away in 2020 after a prolonged and private battle with cancer.

He previously played the lead character, T'Challa, popularly known as the Black Panther. After his death, the studio revealed that they had no intention of recasting his role or digitally replacing the actor in the upcoming sequel. It would instead be focused on exploring the world of Wakanda and its various characters.

The sequel's filming just concluded, and some actors are coming out to talk about how they coped with the noticeable absence. Martin Freeman, who reprises his role in the sequel, recently revealed that filming without Boseman felt "strange" and "odd."

Freeman, who played CIA agent Everett K.Ross recently talked about filming the "Black Panther" sequel, "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," and how the experience felt "strange" without Boseman around. Via Collider, he said, "It was strange, that side of it."

"On the one hand, you're making the film that you're there to make, and there are scores and scores of people on set, joined in this endeavor to make the film. But there's also no question that, at the heart of it, there's quite a gap now, and you can feel it."

Boseman played the titular character, Black Panther, also known as King T'Challa, in the first movie released in 2018. He also appeared in other Marvel movies like "Avengers: Infinity War," in league with other Marvel superheroes. The much-loved actor passed away in August 2020 at 43, after a lengthy battle with cancer.

Further on in the interview, Freeman said he thought his character, Ross, was a "very fun character to play," however it didn't do much to change the "odd" atmosphere without Boseman. The actor said, "There's no way around that."

"I think everyone would find it pretty strange and sad, but at the same time, life things don't just end. It's not like, 'Well, that's happened, so we just all have to go off after never do it again.' But it was odd," Freeman explained.

He revealed that he thought that after the "Gods of Egypt" actor died, "Black Panther" wouldn't have a sequel. "When he passed, I thought, 'Okay, well maybe there just won't be another one, Freeman admitted. "But there are still other stories to tell within that world and other great characters. I think, and I hope that we've made a good film. I trust Ryan Coogler a lot."

Other cast members opened up about how they felt about Boseman's absence during filming. Angela Bassett played the role of the mother of the actor's character, Ramonda, and previously spoke to The Guardian about how the loss affected the cast.

She said, "Everyone felt, the first week of shooting, the presence of Chadwick and missing him on that throne. But we all came together and just paid homage to him before we began, which was wonderful… everyone just speaking beautiful words about him and expressing how much we care and how he informed and inspired us."

In a more recent interview on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," the actress talked about Boseman's legacy and how much of an example he was to everyone. "He was such an example. Such a leader, amazing talent; we all know that. Big heart, great intellect, and we hope to just raise his standard," Bassett said. The actress also described the upcoming sequel as "amazing."

The president of Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige, previously announced that Boseman's role as King T'Challa in "Black Panther" would not get recast in the sequel. The next movie will instead "explore the world of Wakanda & the rich characters introduced in the first film."

The sequel will be written and directed by Coolger, who was in charge of the first movie. The executive producer of the superhero film, Victoria Alonso, previously revealed that in addition to his characters not being played by anyone else, the character would not be replaced digitally either.

When asked would make use of a digital replacement for the character, she said no. "There's only one Chadwick, and he's no longer with us. Sadly, our king has died in real life, not only in fiction, and we're taking a little time to see how we continue the story and how to honor this chapter of what has unexpectedly happened to us, so painful and terrible to be honest."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VSx2E7WE50