Marvel shattered barriers with the release of Black Panther, bringing to the audience the first-ever film centered on a Black superhero in their Cinematic Universe. Before this groundbreaking work, the genre largely focused on white superheroes stepping in to save the world. Among its star-studded cast, Sterling K. Brown played a small but pivotal role. Had Brown foreseen the film’s release and subsequent massive success, he might have positioned himself to earn millions from the project.
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On the Pivot Podcast, Ryan Clark asked the decorated actor about a great opportunity he passed on involving the 2018 film. Brown replied, reminiscing about reading the novel in 2001, as well as the series, Black Panther by Reginald Hudlin.
At that time, one of his friends urged him to buy the rights to the comic in case someone decided to make a movie based on it. However, his pessimism took over. He was not sure whether anyone would embark on a movie project revolving around a Black superhero. He missed out on millions when Marvel decided to do so.
“A friend of mine was like do you like comics and I was like I don’t read a lot of comics but I do read these Black Panther comics. He said you should get rights to that so in case they make a movie, you would be able to have a piece of that. I said to him in 2008, man, they ain’t gonna make a Black superhero movie,” said Brown.
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The 2018 film made an astounding $1.3 billion worldwide and $700 million domestically. Had Brown bought the rights, he could’ve been rolling in money enough for multiple generations.
When Brown was presented with the script of the Black Panther, he jumped in knowing it would be a game-changer. He did not get the part for which he auditioned initially. However, he received an offer to play N’Jobu instead. His character N’Jobu, the younger brother to the former King and the superhero’s father T’Chaka, was significant for it was closely connected to the plot and conflict portrayed in the film.
He happily accepted the role, promising to do it justice because he wanted to experience the joy of being part of something larger in meaning. And he topped it with a captivating performance that led to critics wishing that Brown had a longer on-screen presence in the movie.
