Chadwick Boseman’s role as King T’Challa will not be recast in Black Panther II. However, the actor’s brother says the Oscar nominee would be supportive of another actor playing the iconic character.

According to TMZ, Derrick Boseman said T’Challa “needs to live on” and “Chadwick knew the power of the character and the positive influence it carries,” before adding, “there’s so much power in seeing a Black king, especially in a superhero capacity.”

President of Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige, announced in December of 2020 that following Boseman’s death his role as the superhero of Wakanda would not be recast.

“There’s only one Chadwick, and he’s no longer with us,” Victoria Alonso, executive producer of the film, said in December of 2020. “Sadly, our king has died in real life, not only in fiction, and we’re taking a little time to see how we continue the story and how to honour this chapter of what has unexpectedly happened to us, [it’s] so painful and terrible to be honest.”

#RecastTchalla has been trending on social media and there is a Change.org petition asking for T’Challa to be recast. It has over 44,000 signatures.

Award-winning director of the film, Ryan Coogler, returned to write and direct Black Panther II, which is reportedly scheduled to be released on July 8, 2022.