Mr. Eko from ‘LOST’ Nearly Played Black Panther
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, who shot to fame playing Mr. Eko in the hit show LOST, almost became the King of Wakanda.
Akinnuoye-Agbaje, who played Killer Croc in 2016’s Suicide Squad, said in an interview with Yahoo UK that he once met with Marvel Studios to discuss playing the lead in Black Panther.
“I think we were at a point where we had discussions [with Marvel] about other things I would like to pursue and I took a meeting [about Black Panther],” he told Yahoo. Discussions, however, didn’t pan out, and Marvel went with Chadwick Boseman (42, Get On Up, Marshall) instead.
“As an actor, you do these meetings and some of them go somewhere, but some of them don’t,” he said. “What I can say is that, having seen the latest rendition, I’m just happy that it came out.”
Boseman first portrayed Black Panther in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War before getting his solo picture in 2018. Black Panther went on to be nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Picture. It won three (Original Score, Costume Design, and Production Design). He would go on to portray the character in several more Marvel films, including Avengers: Endgame, before losing his battle with colon cancer in August of 2020 at the age of 43.
Making ‘Farming’
Akinnuoye-Agbaje says the success of Black Panther has made it easier for minority filmmakers to have their projects made. That includes his own directorial debut Farming. The film tells the true story of Nigerian parents who gave their children to white foster families in Britain between the 1960s and 1980s.
“The impact it has had in the industry in convincing them that there is a palatable black audience for black films has only strengthened the audience for a film like Farming,” he said.
Even though he lost out on Black Panther, Akinnuoye-Agbaje did eventually appear in a Marvel film, as Kurse in Thor: The Dark World. It reminas to be seen if her will ever return to the DC film world, as he did not return to the role of Killer Croc for the new Suicide Squad movie.
The Black Panther comic book character was created in 1966 by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee. Shortly after, the Black Panther Party was formed, and after readers began to think the two were related, Marvel briefly changed the character’s name to Black Leopard. Fans hated the name, and it soon changed back.
Marvel had been looking for an actor to play T’Challa/Black Panther for years prior to the film being made, as the studio has a habit of planning their slate of films five to ten years ahead of time. Some of the actors they considered were eventually cast in other Marvel roles, including Djimon Hounsou, who went on to play Korath in Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain Marvel. Anthony Mackie was also considered, but he was soon cast as Sam Wilson/The Falcon, and eventually became the new Captain America.
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje played Mr. Eko in 28 episodes of LOST, in seasons two and three.
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H/T: Yahoo UK
