Actor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, best known to LOST fans as Mr. Eko, was nearly cast as the lead in Marvel’s blockbuster Black Panther, playing T’Challa, the leader of Wakanda by day, and superhero by night.
Akinnuoye-Agbaje, who played Killer Croc in 2016’s Suicide Squad, revealed in an interview with Yahoo UK that he met with Marvel Studios to discuss working on one of their projects, including playing the lead in Black Panther.
“I think we were at a point where we had discussions (with Marvel) about other things I would like to pursue and I took a meeting (about Black Panther),” he told Yahoo. Those discussions, however, didn’t work out, and Marvel went with Chadwick Boseman instead.
“As an actor, you do these meetings and some of them go somewhere, but some of them don’t, he said. “What I can say is that, having seen the latest rendition, I’m just happy that it came out.”
Boseman first portrayed Black Panther in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, and in several additional Marvel films, including Avengers: Endgame. Few knew, however, that he was already battling colon cancer, a battle that ended with his passing in August of 2020 at the age of 43. His final performance as the character was in an episode of the Marvel animated series What If?
Black Panther went on to be nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Picture, and it won three (Original Score, Costume Design, and Production Design).
Even though he lost out on Black Panther, Akinnuoye-Agbaje did eventually appear in a Marvel film as Kurse in Thor: The Dark World in 2013. He did not return to DC and the role of Killer Croc for 2021’s The Suicide Squad, and it’s unclear if he’ll return for future films.
Even though he didn’t get the role, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje says the success of Black Panther has made it easier for minority filmmakers to have their projects made. That includes his own directorial debut, Farming. The film tells the true story of Nigerian parents who gave their children to white foster families in Britain between the 1960s and 1980s.
“The impact it has had in the industry in convincing them that there is a palatable black audience for black films has only strengthened the audience for a film like Farming,” he said.
The Black Panther comic book character was created in 1966 by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee. Shortly after, the Black Panther Party was formed, and after readers began to think the two were related, Marvel briefly changed the character’s name to Black Leopard. Fans hated the name, and it soon changed back.
Marvel had been looking for an actor to play T’Challa/Black Panther for years prior to the film being made, as the studio has a habit of planning their slate of films five to ten years ahead of time. Some of the actors they considered were eventually cast in other Marvel roles, including Djimon Hounsou, who went on to play Korath in Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain Marvel. Anthony Mackie was also considered, but he was soon cast as Sam Wilson/The Falcon, and eventually became the new Captain America.
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje played Mr. Eko in 28 episodes of LOST, in seasons two and three.
H/T: Yahoo UK
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