The trailer for Marvel's first animated series What If...? has been released and features Chadwick Boseman's final performance as T'Challa, his character from the Black Panther and Avengers films.
The idea behind the Disney+ series, which is scheduled to premiere on August 11, is to explore alternative scenarios in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, taking in major events and imagining them differently. In the case of Boseman's T'Challa, what if he wasn't the Black Panther, but Star-Lord instead for Guardians of the Galaxy?
The new action-packed trailer sees Boseman, who died in August 2020 from colon cancer, reprise the character in a fun scene featuring Yondu (Michael Rooker).
Other stars to feature in the series, for which new episodes will come out every Wednesday, include Josh Brolin as Thanos, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Michael B Jordan as Killmonger, Natalie Portman as Jane Foster and Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, to name a few.
Not only is this said to be Boseman's final outing as T'Challa, but also one of his last roles altogether, following the appearance in Oscar-winning drama Ma Rainey's Black Bottom.
Fans were quick to react on social media to hearing the beloved actor's voice. "Hearing Chadwick Boseman's voice in the What If trailer was something I wasn't prepared for today," wrote self-proclaimed Marvel "nerd" Nora Dominick.
What If...? follows the release of other Marvel series WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki, plus film Black Widow, starring Scarlett Johansson, which came out this week in the UAE.
Black Panther filmmaker Ryan Coogler is in production on a sequel to the 2018 hit, with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever due out in July 2022. Marvel Studios has confirmed that Boseman's character will not be recast.
"His portrayal of T'Challa the Black Panther is iconic and transcends any iteration of the character in any other medium from Marvel's past – and it's for that reason that we will not recast the character," Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios, said.
