Black Panther’s scene from Marvel Zombies will be narrated by Spider-Man

Marvel Studios has decided to honor Chadwick Boseman's legacy as Black Panther in their new series, Marvel Zombies. Instead of recasting another actor in this voice role, the studio has made a creative decision to honor the late star's enduring legacy by allowing Peter Parker to narrate the scene where the Wakandan hero appears in the show.

In this Marvel Zombies scene, T’Challa doesn't speak, and through this silence, the showrunners pay their respect to Boseman's legacy. So, ScreenRant spoke with Marvel exec Brad Winderbaum and co-showrunner Bryan Andrews about this poignant scene. Andrews elaborated on his creative decision, saying,

"Yeah, for all the reasons you laid out, that’s why we chose to have Peter [Parker] narrate that moment. We didn’t have Chadwick. If we had Chadwick, it would’ve been completely different choices."

He further added,

"If we had Chadwick, he would’ve had his own Star-Lord T’Challa spinoff show long before we did the zombie thing. But being able to revisit his character in that way, the way it plays out, it was another way to be with him in some strange way, even though there were no words. You know what I mean? It’s still Chadwick’s Black Panther, and that’s rad."

Marvel Zombies finds a way to respect Chadwick Boseman's fans with an emotional moment

Chadwick Boseman, who entered the Marvel Cinematic Universe through 2016's Captain America: Civil War, eventually starred in a standalone Black Panther movie. In 2020, he tragically lost his life to colon cancer. Until then, his character had become a fixture in the studio's creative equations, having already been a part of two Avengers movies.

As Bryan Andrews mentioned, Marvel might have gone ahead with a Star-Lord T’Challa spinoff, bringing Boseman back to the fray in his iconic role. Unfortunately, the actor's unfortunate loss led them to change how they would portray Black Panther. The 2022 sequel saw the world mourning T'Challa's death as Shuri took over the moniker.

Even after all these years, the studio is respecting Boseman's legacy through their creative decision in Marvel Zombies, as mentioned before. In that scene, the silence made his absence cut even deeper into the hearts. In the past, the studio had reportedly decided to recast T’Challa, but they changed those plans, as per ScreenRant.

The studio exec also spoke about their discussion with Ryan Coogler, who directed both Black Panther movies. While addressing Coogler's notes on Marvel Zombies, Brad Winderbaum told ScreenRant,

"And we actually showed an early animatic to Ryan Coogler to get his notes, and he had some great ideas in that sequence that were really additive."

Speaking about Marvel Zombies, the show is an extension of an idea that was initially introduced in the animated Marvel show, What If...?, which continued for three seasons. Its first season had an episode titled What If... Zombies?!, which inspired the creative brains at the MCU to work on the project.

Marvel Zombies will premiere on September 24, 2025, on Disney+.

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