Comic book lovers, it's time to break out your pencils and notepads. Repeat after me: Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje. A difficult name to pronounce, yes, but an important one all the same -- this is the man whose leading the pack to play Black Panther, according to the actor himself.
MTV News first broke the story that Triple-A was talking with Marvel Studios about "Black Panther," and now the actor is speaking with other outlets about the character. Collider interviewed the "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" star about the potential superhero project, which Akinnuoye-Agbaje described as a literal dream role.
"It's always been a dream of mine to play a black superhero and, in particular, the Black Panther," said Akinnuoye-Agbaje in a video interview. "There is some truth to [the rumors] that we're now staying up, sitting down and taking talks with Marvel about developing that project for me."
The clearly enthused actor gushed about the role, a surprising display of emotion from the man that played Mr. Eko on "Lost." While his on-screen man of faith hardly had time to crack a smile, Akinnuoye-Agbaje himself couldn't help but grin about the prospect of playing T'Challa.
"I want to be the one to wear that suit," he revealed. "If you're gonna be in this genre of action heroes, that's the man. We have Obama as the real-life superhero, and now you need one on the screen. I just think I'm the boy to do it."
Akinnuoye-Agbajge went on to describe his take on the character of T'Challa, the Wakandan warrior that assumes the Black Panther mantle. He compared the role to another he's played, the menacing and vicious Simon Adebisi on HBO's prison drama, "Oz."
"You've seen the intensity and the rawness that I brought with Adebisi," he said. "He is an animal, he's adapted from an animal, which is a panther. Plus, I'm Nigerian. I'm from the Yoruba tribe. I can infuse all the rituals and the customs and the culture, even the language that that carries, into [the role]."
The actor described the resulting combination thusly: "So, you'd get this rawness, the physical prowess that I've naturally got, and the cultural element to knock this baby out of the park!"
What do you think of Akinnuoye-Agbaje's take on "Black Panther"? Is the "Lost" star the man for the job?
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