The X-Men Will Never Get to Team Up With T’Challa in the MCU and Fans Are Heartbroken
The X-Men will be joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe sooner rather than later, and Marvel fans can’t wait. While this represents a match made in heaven, it’s unfortunate that they may not get to see the X-Men interact with all the characters they know and love from the MCU in Phase Four. For example, Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man likely will never get the opportunity to share the screen with Wolverine.
Fans will also never get to see T’Challa team up with the X-Men for much sadder reasons.
The new MCU going forward
Up until this point, the MCU has featured characters to which Marvel owns the complete film licensing rights. Outside a deal with Sony to grandfather Peter Parker/Spider-Man into the MCU, the other characters’ whose film rights lie with other companies haven’t been able to appear. That all changed when Fox and Disney completed their merger.
Now Marvel has the rights to characters like the X-Men and Fantastic Four.
So what does this mean for the future of the franchise? Obviously, it increases the number of stories they can tell. Marvel has already made it clear that the X-Men and Fantastic Four joining the MCU is a matter of if, not when. Fans can now see some of their favorite characters team up together on screen after previously only being able to dream about the prospect.
Of course, there is one character that sadly, fans won’t be able to see interact with this new crop of characters: T’Challa, aka Black Panther.
Black Panther’s relationship to the X-Men in the comics
In the pages of Marvel comics, Black Panther’s relationship with the X-Men is an interesting one. According to Marvel, he’s a childhood companion of Ororo Munroe, better known as Storm of the X-Men. The two eventually married and stayed together even in the midst of the superhero Civil War, both supporting Captain America over Iron Man. The couple even took the place of Sue and Reed Richards on the Fantastic Four for a while.
The possibilities for a team-up would have been endless. Seeing T’Challa and Storm have a relationship would have been a fan-favorite. Seeing him interact with characters like Professor X, Jean Grey, and Wolverine also could have led to some interesting stories. Unfortunately, this will never happen.
According to Vanity Fair, Marvel is retiring the role of T’Challa following the tragic passing of Chadwick Boseman.
Marvel fans are heartbroken they’ll never get to see T’Challa and the X-Men team up
While the loss of Boseman is much more important to the world than the loss of a character, fans loved his depiction of the Black Panther. They also love the character of T’Challa, and there is definite sadness at being unable to see him on-screen with the X-Men or any other Marvel heroes.
In a Reddit thread, one fan pointed out that Marvel fans will never get to see T’Challa join the Illuminati, Marvel’s superhero group made up of its smartest minds:
“The fact we’re not gonna get an Illuminati featuring T’Challa and Tony is heartbreaking.”
While many fans would love to see the character recast, it’s hard to fault Marvel for their decision. While it speaks to how good Boseman’s performance was in the role, it’s also hard to imagine anyone else playing it. Fans of Black Panther and the X-Men do have hope, however.
A Black Panther sequel is still in the works, and another character may inherit the mantle. Seeing someone like Shuri step into the role and engaging with the X-Men could be compelling in its own way.
