From the very first second he appeared in Captain America: Civil War, Chadwick Boseman perfectly embodied the spirit of T’Challa, once again confirming the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s impeccable track record when it comes to casting their major superheroes. After successfully introducing the King of Wakanda into the mythology, anticipation was sky high for T’Challa’s solo debut, and Black Panther certainly didn’t disappoint.
Not only did it receive widespread critical acclaim that culminated in it becoming the first superhero movie to land a nomination for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, where it ultimately ended up picking up three wins in the technical categories from seven nods in total, but it also marked a seismic cultural event that yielded well over $1.3 billion at the box office, making Black Panther the most lucrative installment in the MCU’s history that doesn’t focus on the Avengers.
Boseman was in phenomenal form as the title hero, lending T’Challa an air of grace and dignity that made you believe he was more than capable of both ruling an entire nation and getting his hands dirty in the action sequences. However, the actor admitted in a recently-resurfaced interview that the first time he auditioned for Marvel, it was for Guardians of the Galaxy‘s Drax the Destroyer.
“It was just good to come in and play and see what they did with it. Sometimes that’s the way it works as an actor. You go in knowing you’re not going to get it, but you know you’re meeting the people that are going to be like, ‘He’s not this, but we’ll put him in this other thing’. I feel like that was one of the moments where they were like, ‘We can use him later’.”
It seems impossible to imagine Chadwick Boseman as Drax given how his performance as Black Panther instantly gave audiences a new cinematic icon, not to mention how great Dave Bautista has been as the oblivious extra-terrestrial. Still, Boseman’s final appearance in the MCU will nonetheless see him cross paths with the Guardians of the Galaxy in an episode of Marvel’s What If…? that imagines T’Challa becoming Star-Lord, in what will bring his association with the franchise full circle from his first audition to last contribution.