Entertainment

When Disney brought the fictional country of Wakanda to life, it coronated Chadwick Boseman as its king.

As the star and titular hero of the 2018 film "Black Panther," Boseman's King T'challa led the film to a billion-plus box office, and in doing so secured his place in the extended Marvel cinematic universe. Given the sustained success of the franchise and the likelihood of deals to come, his longtime attorneys Melanie Cook and Julian Zajfen might have good reason to hope for Wakanda forever.

The Ziffren Brittenham LLP partners have represented Boseman since his early acting days, Cook said. She first represented him in negotiating a deal to play Jackie Robinson in the 2013 biopic "42."

"It's really fun when you're able to start with someone so early and go with them through the years," Cook said.

Cook said it didn't take long for Boseman to build a substantive body of work, and it wasn't much longer before he received a call from Disney about a potential role for the then-upcoming film "Captain America: Civil War."

Initial negotiations with Disney were limited to a supporting role, Zafjen said, and at the time they had no reason to believe his character would be any more than a one-off.

Melanie Cook of Ziffren Brittenham LLP

"Anyone who's seen these movies knows there's a lot of characters, so we had no reason to believe the deal with Chadwick would extend beyond Captain America 3," Zafjen said.

Frankly, he said, he's kind of glad he didn't know.

"It let me go into these negotiations without thinking I might be losing this massive opportunity," Zafjen said. "I'm not sure if I'd be better knowing or not knowing."

As is common in Marvel movies, Zafjen said Boseman was signed to a multi-picture deal, which isn't a guarantee that a character will return, but at least will preserve the possibility. Boseman wasn't on the bench long, as he appeared alongside Marvel mainstays Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans to announce a "Black Panther" stand alone film at a press event in late 2014.

Julian Zajfen of Ziffren Brittenham LLP

Boseman has appeared in three Marvel movies to date. While Zafjen couldn't comment on any future appearances particularly given the character's unknown fate after the events of "Avengers: Infinity War," media reports indicate Boseman will reprise the role in "Avengers: End Game" and future sequels.

The deal potential that's sprung from such a landmark role is reason enough to celebrate, but Cook said she was also pleased to see the wide cultural impact of "Black Panther," particularly with younger black audiences.

"They really did a good job with it, and I think I attribute a lot of that impact, really, to Chad," Cook said. "He really took it and has made the most out of it."

-- Steven Crighton