Chadwick Boseman says Marvel balked at African accent in Black Panther

Image via Shahar Azran/WireImage/Getty

Chadwick Boseman Says Marvel Didn’t Want Him Using African Accent

Black Panther was a huge hit the likes of which Marvel Studios didn’t anticipate, but they almost ruined the whole thing with their lack of confidence in the (white) audience. They didn’t say it like that, but we know exactly what they meant.

Chadwick Boseman recently did an interview with The Hollywood Reporter where he spoke about Marvel’s trepidation with him playing T’Challa with an African accent.

They felt that it was maybe too much for an audience to take. I felt the exact opposite. Like, if I speak with a British accent, what’s gonna happen when I go home?”

Chadwick went on to describe the accent was an absolute deal-breaker for him if he couldn’t perform his role with the proper dialect.

“I was like, ‘No, this is such an important factor that if we lose this right now, what else are we gonna throw away for the sake of making people feel comfortable?'”

Obviously Chadwick was victorious in his defense of the African accent and Marvel went on to pocket over a billion dollars worldwide.

Let this be a lesson to white people who do business in culturally creative spaces: listen to the Black people, yo. Can’t have Black Panther sounds like James Bond.