You know his name. He's T'Challa, Black Panther, King of Wakanda ... he also goes by Chadwick Boseman. Though the versatile actor made his introduction in this particular role in Marvel's Captain America: Civil War, he'll get to come into his own as the title character in Black Panther. That fact plays to Boseman's advantage since he won't have to carry both an origin story and an ascension story as T'Challa attempts to defend Wakanda from internal and external threats, but a large part of the film's success does lay on his shoulders. Luckily, writer-director Ryan Coogler has assembled a stellar cast of veterans and newcomers to support Boseman with both allies and enemies from the pages of Marvel Comics.

So, too, does T'Challa have allies and enemies aplenty in Black Panther, and they'll help to progress the narrative centered around the title character. As part of a group of journalists visiting the movie's set just about a year ago, we spoke with Boseman about T'Challa's state of mind at the beginning of the film and how his decisions from the previous movie will play out in his solo outing. Boseman also spoke about the more behind-the-scenes aspects of making Black Panther, like how he handled the fandom, his physical training for the role, and joining the Marvel universe.

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Image via Marvel Studios

So does T’Challa feel more like a king or more like Black Panther?

Chadwick Boseman: At the beginning of this movie? I think neither. Neither. He’s been Black Panther before, but I would say at the beginning of this movie he’s dealing with – it’s shortly after Civil War has ended so he’s still mourning. There’s unrest in Wakanda. So what he’s dealing with his being the king, making the transition to filling the footsteps of his father. So it’s probably going to feel like it’s more about the political unrest than the superhero, initially.

What’s the learning curve from going from being Black Panther, or just being Wakanda royalty, to becoming the king?

Boseman: He’s been prepared for it his whole life. He’s groomed, so to speak, to do it. I think it’s just the mental transition. Like if his father had decided that he was going to step down, "I’m too old, I can’t do it anymore then," that would be a different scenario. But because he died in the last movie, I think the transition has to do with that mourning process, [but] he’s been groomed to do it.

Is approaching this role different than working on Captain America: Civil War? I’m curious if there is a deeper understanding that you’re getting out of the character versus when you were first preparing originally?

Boseman: I mean yeah, obviously. Not to say that there wasn’t a deep understanding, but some of the things that we came to an understanding of, we couldn’t show in the last one, so it gives it a chance to marinate. And those certain things that we were unsure about, now we’re 100 percent sure about, even down to accent and how you walk or what his sense of humor is, which actually develops more in this movie because in the last movie, he was pretty focused on what he had to do, so there was no time to make any jokes. [laughs] But in this one, you’re sort of seeing him around in his more natural environment and around people that he knows, so you are different according to the people you are around.

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Image via Disney/Marvel

What’s the fallout for T’Challa, both personally and from the rest of Wakanda, for not taking vengeance? Because it was obviously a very conscious decision, it was a major decision for him to not take vengeance there in Civil War for his father.

Boseman: The fallout?

Yeah. What can you say about it, both internally for T’Challa and then just kind of how other people are viewing that?

Boseman: Fallout is a really strong word, but maybe that’s because it’s me. You don’t want to criticize yourself. But anytime a leader dies, to be general and not give away story, there’s going to be political unrest. And the fact that it’s not unlike our world where you will have one political party sort of, not to be specific about that, one political party sort of point the finger at someone for being soft or not being tough enough when it comes to their foreign policy or that type of thing. So that would be the best way to describe it. But is it complete unrest where he can’t overcome it? I wouldn’t go that far.

For him internally, do you feel that T’Challa is comfortable with the choice he made in Civil War?

Boseman: Yes. I think he is comfortable with the final choice, that final choice. Yes.

When T’Challa showed up in Civil War, the fan reaction was just so huge I think more than even a lot of people expected. Did seeing that reaction, how excited people were over getting to meet to this character, kind of impact how you approached this movie in anyway?

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Image via Marvel Studios

Boseman: No. No. Because I’m not saying I expected the fan reaction to be what it was, but to a certain degree I’m unaware of the fan reaction. That’s number one. She’s like, you don’t believe me.

I don’t want to believe you. The #BlackPantherSoLit hashtag...

Boseman: Yeah, see… I see it. I see certain things, but I see it in a different way because it’s important for me to not look at everything that’s happening, so I see it because some stuff is impossible to not see. But there’s a certain removal I have to have from it in order to play it because you have people saying, "It’s got to have this or it’s got to have that, and if I was to follow their thoughts from the last one, it would’ve been a lot of stuff that was wrong. So, I think you kind of have to stay in it in a way where your decisions are made based upon the things that are organic.

There’s a lot of storytellers here; all of the different departments are all storytellers and so you're collaborating with them more so than you can the audience. You are collaborating with the audience, but if I was doing a play and I’m onstage with somebody and the audience responds, we get that direct, you know, I know that that worked because you responded to it. But between blogs and this and that and journalists, it’s like you can’t really put your foot in that. So I would say, no it’s the fact that now in this case you have a new director that’s building on the steps of previous directors and writers and new writers. It’s the baby of Stan Lee and Feige. There’s so many other factors that come into play, various different writers and various different versions of the character, so it’s a lot of stuff to put in that you are being influenced by.

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Image via Marvel Studios

How did collaborating with Ryan shape the way you saw Black Panther and his story? Did you look at the character differently after he came onboard and you started talking about the character? Did it refine the way you look at him?

Boseman: I think we have very similar views anyway. That’s one of the reasons why - it’s like they put us together, like have you ever dated somebody and somebody was like, "You’re really going to like this person?" It’s kind of like that. So we have very similar views about what things should be like and the things that we usually have a difference of opinion about, it’s so minute what those differences are, that I think it’s more of a growth because there’s nobody battling you. We’re constantly building on each other, so it’s been a good marriage so far.

How did you prepare for this role mentally and physically compared to other roles where you were playing historical figures? Was there like a weight was lifted because you didn’t have to tell somebody’s story and their truth?

Boseman: It’s like putting down one weight and picking up another one, though. I think the preparation is basically the same. And the different genres feed on each other. Like I just played Thurgood Marshall before I came into this and there was a certain amount of freedom that I felt going into that having played this. If I had gone from Jackie Robinson to James Brown to Thurgood Marshall ... but playing something like this gives you a certain amount of freedom. And then going back to this from that, it gives you a certain amount of weight, I think. So I think they help each other. Really, playing Thurgood Marshall is preparation for this.

It’s like you see a comedian before he does his big HBO or Showtime whichever special, he will be in LA and in New York doing like small little comedy clubs. That’s kind of what it’s like. Once you’ve done Civil War you can’t really stop training for this. I can’t have the same body for Thurgood Marshall [laughs] so you have to tone that down, but [I was] working with [trainer/stunt man] Marrese Crump while I was doing Thurgood Marshall. So it’s like you carry those things with you because you know you’re about to go into the next thing so it kind of never stops.

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Image via Marvel Studios

What fascinates you about being a part of the Marvel family now?

Boseman: Well one, I mean they have a good batting average in terms of successful films and films that people love. And to be specific about this film and this character, it’s just a good character. It’s an interesting character. Because if it was somehow not as good as it is, I wouldn’t want to do it. Just because it’s Marvel, it doesn’t mean you want to do it. They tend to be offering people stuff that’s interesting and good and wanting to push envelopes in certain places. So this one, I think is ... obviously you’ve never seen a movie like this before, so it’s just cool. For me, every project has to be something that’s challenging and cool and that’s a challenge for me. It keeps me interested. So that’s all that really matters. This is definitely one of them.

Can you talk about the female characters that you’re playing [opposite]? They’re all very strong, very valuable women to what…

Boseman: Shoot, you’re telling me about it. [laughs]

Can you talk about what you think that each of those characters bring to your character and what makes him better?

Boseman: That’s a loaded question right there. I’ve got to watch you. I think the first one I’m going to talk about is actually Shuri, played by Letitia. That character, to have a little sister, it’s not very often that you see a superhero with a little sister. So I think that is probably not going to occur to people that that, it’s not unheard of but it’s an unusual thing, so I think it brings out a different part of his character. Usually you have the damsel in distress. I don’t think there are any damsels in distress in this movie; that doesn’t exist in this movie.

Like you say, all these characters are strong. Even if it’s not a physical prowess, there is a mental prowess. It’s intelligence and savvy and so all of them present that, but the one that stands out the most actually is Shuri because of the ability, the way a little sister can poke at you and you’re protective of her but she still thinks she’s your mother, like all those different things. And the actress has those qualities, I think she just makes you happy as soon as you see her. Every day she comes in, you’re like, "Oh shoot, she just changed my attitude about everything." So I think that’s the one that stands out the most.

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Image via Marvel Studios

Obviously you have Angela Bassett here. She’s incredible to watch and, again, she’s always really strong. I would say in this movie, because my father is dead, it gives me the opportunity to sort of look to her for wisdom and I think it shows the matriarchal African society in doing that, so she’s an advisor that I would go to. And it’s a close relationship, it’s not just like she’s my mother [and] she’s on the side, she’s not a figurehead mother.

And to have Lupita and Danai, I’m not going to really talk about their characters too much [laughs] but just to have them here, I mean it’s just a beautiful thing. I love them as actresses. They challenge the director everyday. He’s like, "They’re getting in me." So they challenge him everyday and they bring those same challenges that their characters have, they sort of attack T’Challa in the same way; they’re not afraid to challenge him. So I think it’s cool to have conflict that’s not "I’m going to kill you conflict." You need other types of conflict to bring out other parts of your character. So I think the fact that they present conflict without being enemies, in most cases, then that’s a cool thing.

I wanted to just talk really quick about T’Challa’s love life. In the comics, it’s been rather complicated and sparse, so is there going to be any kind of romantic arc for T’Challa in this film? Can we say, is somebody going to be moved this time? Because we would love to see that.

Boseman: To be what?

Or you be moved? We would love to see that.

Boseman: Yeah. Yeah. I would say, yeah. You’re talking about Ayo, Ayo's character.

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For even more, be sure to check out these recent reports from our visit to the set of Black Panther:

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Image via Marvel Studios