Eatonton boy featured in latest 'Black Panther' film

Dec. 21—Not many people on this earth can say they have been in a movie that has grossed more $750 million at the box office, but Eatonton's Gavin Macon can.

The 10-year-old landed his first acting credit in the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe film that hit theaters last month, "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," which is a sequel to the highly-successful 2018 original, "Black Panther." Macon got a couple of minutes of screen time as a Haitian school kid, sharing a scene with Academy Award-nominated actress Angela Bassett and Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong'o.

Tasha Howard, mother to four children including Gavin, said she had for a while been signing her son up for filming opportunities, but "Wakanda Forever" was the first to cast him back in March. An email from Disney, which owns Marvel Studios, kickstarted what was a whirlwind experience.

"We had to make a decision in 24 hours to go to Puerto Rico for filming," Howard said.

Only one person could accompany young Mr. Macon on the trip, which would be his mother, so a plan had to be made for Howard's three other children. Luckily, some friends and family stepped up to help.

The invitation to set was for Macon to play an extra in a scene featuring Bassett, who plays Queen Ramonda, mother to the departed Wakandan King T'Challa and his sister Shuri. Bassett's Ramonda visits Haiti to seek out Nyong'o, who plays T'Challa's girlfriend/possible widow Nakia. In the second "Black Panther" film, Nakia has moved to Haiti to work as a schoolteacher. Macon was originally selected as one of around 50 schoolchildren for the scene, but wound up as one of four elevated to principal actor in a more featured role. He even had a line during filming, but it sadly didn't make the final cut.

Macon's time filming in Puerto Rico lasted six days, including paid-for hotel accommodations and flights to and from set.

"It was the best trip ever," his mother said.

Fast forward a few months to November, and Macon was invited to the Atlanta premier of "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" at the Fox Theatre.

"I don't think he realized how big the movie was until he saw himself on the screen," said Howard. "That's when he got excited."

Asked if this was the start of a long Hollywood acting career, Macon said, "It was just something fun to try out."

He's going to continue working on his skills on the basketball court and football field. Those are the places where he really has fun, but he says he may just pick up the phone if Disney comes calling for another "Black Panther" sequel.

Although it was officially released over a month ago, "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" is going strong at the box office at more than $787 million made. Locally, it's still showing at theaters in Milledgeville, Greensboro and Macon. Website Box Office Mojo has it as the 104th highest-grossing film of all-time. Breaking into the top-100 is more than likely at this point as it's only about $4 million away. The sequel is doing extremely well, especially taking into account that the original film's star, Chadwick Boseman, died in 2020 of colon cancer and was unable to reprise his role. The original "Black Panther" released in 2018 starring Boseman stands 14th all-time with more than $1.3 billion earned.