Before Black Panther, Michael B Jordan Replaced Chadwick Boseman in a Legendary Soap Opera after Boseman Left Due to Racial Stereotypes
Michael B. Jordan and the late Chadwick Boseman warred with each other for the throne of Wakanda in Marvel’s Black Panther. While the film sees Jordan’s Killmonger briefly replace Boseman’s T’Challa as the ruler of Wakanda, the two actors faced a similar situation on the legendary soap opera series All My Children years ago.
Chadwick Boseman made his screen acting debut with a recurring role on the soap opera series before departing. However, as fate would have it, the Black Panther star was replaced by Michael B. Jordan, who gained notoriety for his performance on All My Children before going on to compete with Boseman in the MCU. Therefore, fans must be curious to learn about the role Boseman and Jordan shared and why Boseman left in the first place.
Michael B. Jordan Replaced Chadwick Boseman on All My Children
Chadwick Boseman made his television debut in 2003 with an appearance on the hit daytime soap opera series All My Children. The series aired for nearly four decades and released over ten thousand episodes. Boseman appeared on the show as the troubled teenager, Reggie. However, after playing Reggie for just one week, Boseman was relieved from his acting duties. Instead, Michael B. Jordan was brought on board as his replacement.
Jordan played the role of Reggie for nearly three years before departing in 2006. The character was eventually written off the series and never seen again as All My Children ended in 2011. However, the role gave Jordan’s career the necessary jumpstart while allowing him to transition to more mature roles.
Jordan later gained fame with his role as Vince Howard in the sports-drama series Friday Night Lights before sharing the screen with Boseman in Black Panther. Jordan played the role of Reggie for 59 episodes of All My Children. The Creed star also acknowledged his time on the soap opera during his monologue on Saturday Night Live in January 2023.
Chadwick Boseman Left Due to Racial Stereotype Concerns
Boseman was reportedly fired from All My Children after just one week of working on the soap opera. In the initial stages, Boseman’s Reggie was portrayed as a stereotypical black teenager with a troubled childhood. Boseman took an issue with the racial stereotypes and according to his later agent, Michael Greene, confronted the writers, leading to his firing.
Also Read: 1 Black Panther Villain Got Mistreated by MCU Characters and Fans Alike
Jordan and Boseman spoke about playing the same character in an interview with The Wrap in 2019. While promoting their work in Black Panther, Boseman addressed the racial stereotype concerns he had with the character. Boseman stated that since his character was new and being developed he wanted to take the opportunity to voice his concerns regarding the stereotypes.
“And because of that, there’s possibly room for me to adjust this and change it and make it so it’s stereotypical on the page but not on the screen.”
However, Boseman was fired for sharing his opinion and replaced with Jordan. Nonetheless, the show’s producers and writers seemingly incorporated some of Boseman’s feedback on the character. In the same interview, Jordan also admitted that the character seemed less stereotypical when he took over the role because of Boseman’s intervention. Boseman and Jordan would later break all racial stereotypes with Black Panther, setting a benchmark for African-American portrayal in Hollywood.
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