Back in January, Wesley Snipesrevealed that he wanted to produce and star in a Black Panther film during the mid-1990s. Unfortunately, he got caught in pre-production hell and the film was never created.
Now, years later, Black Panther is not only a household name, its become the highest grossing superhero film of all time, and is set to take the No. 3 spot for highest grossing movies in the U.S. But fans can't help but wonder what would have happened if Snipes' dream became a reality—or specifically, who would be cast in the '90s Black Panther.
Of course, at least one tweeter listed Snipes for the titular role of the Wakandan hero, T'Challa, while others declared Will Smith, who was rising as an action hero at the time, for the role. Tweeters also claim Angela Bassett and her ageless beauty could remain in her role as T'Challa's mom or take on the role of his royal guard, Okoye. But another tweeter said a '90s Bassett would likely raise a fiery Killmonger rather than a cool-headed T'Challa. (Looking back at her setting fire to her ex-husband's car in How Stella Got Her Groove Back does draw parallels to Killmonger burning all of the heart-shape herbs in the Ryan Coogler–directed effort.)
James Earl Jones, who exuded royalty as the king of Zamunda in Coming to America, and as the voice of Mufasa in The Lion King, was a top pick for Zuri, who's played by Forest Whitaker in the film, while the Zamunda prince, Eddie Murphy, was chosen for W'Kabi. Actresses who rose to fame in the '90s like Jada Pinkett-Smith, Brandy, Halle Berry, Regina King, and Tatyana Ali, were also chosen for the roles of Shuri, Nakia, or Okoye. See how tweeters would cast a '90s Black Panther movie below.
