Credit: Marvel StudiosBlack Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) was going to be a completely different movie before Chadwick Boseman passed away, and the cast finally shared what the movie would’ve looked like.
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With only a few more weeks before the release of Black Panther 2, fans have been hearing a lot of news about the highly anticipated adventure back into the world of Wakanda. Since Avengers: Endgame (2019), MCU fans haven’t seen or heard much about the nation besides the Dora Milaje’s appearance in Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
With Boseman dying of cancer, the script had to be rewritten with a new person taking on the mantle. So far, Marvel has tried to be secretive about the ordeal, but Merchandise and trailers have confirmed that there will be multiple Black Panthers in the movie, one most likely being Leticia Wright’s Shuri.
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Black Panther 2 will also take time to introduce new characters to the MCU, such as Tenoch Huerta’s Namor and Dominque Thorne’s Riri Williams/Ironheart. Namor will be in charge of Talocan and potentially go to war over an incident for which he blames Wakanda. Reports state that Ironheart might be the reason for this war and that fans should expect her to show up in her Iron Man-inspired suit to help Wakanda in their war.
Two years later, the cast has reassured fans that even though Boseman might not be in the movie, the whole process was a tribute to the actor who made Wakanda possible through his legendary performance. Wakanda will honor their king in the movie and deal with a time jump that could interfere with the MCU timeline.
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In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the cast shared their thoughts on Chadwick Boseman’s original role in the sequel. This led Ryan Coogler, the director, to reflect on how Wakanda Forever was going to be a character study that fully embraces T’Challa’s perspective in the MCU:
“The script we wrote before Chadwick passed was very much rooted in T’Challa’s perspective. It was a massive movie but also simultaneously a character study that delved deeply into his psyche and situation.”
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Lupita Nyong’o, who plays Nakia in the MCU, revealed that losing Chadwick was like losing the “centerpiece” for your film as they struggle to figure out how to move forward with the movie after his death:
“Losing your centerpiece, everything changed. When you say the world rotated around him, it revolved around him, it did.”
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Nate Moore chimed in and stated that he was never concerned with Black Panther 2 focusing on someone taking on the mantle of Black Panther because it often happened in the comics, and their process made it feel natural and the right thing to do:
“The Black Panther has existed in Wakanda for centuries, so the notion of someone else picking up the mantle didn’t seem inorganic. But once that had to become a reality, then it was, ‘OK, what makes the most sense for the story? Who actually makes the most sense to take this thing on?’ All of the characters in the film have a different idea of who should don the mantle and why.”
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As Marvel moves forward and tells Wakanda’s next chapter without their beloved king, fans will finally get to see what the nation has been up to. Leticia Wright has teased that they will have a lot more technology as they have advanced in the five years with more inventions.
Marvel might also continue to set up future events with rumors that the movie will end with a big tease of a highly anticipated villain watching Wakanda from the shadows.
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It’s unclear if Namor will stay as a villain throughout the movie, but his role will be important for the MCU as he is a mutant who also served as an Avenger for some time in the comics. Namor has also been an enemy and antagonist, leaving his future in the MCU to go however Marvel thinks is best.
More on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Here’s an official synopsis for the movie:
In Marvel Studios’ ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,’ Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Shuri (Letitia Wright), M’Baku (Winston Duke), Okoye (Danai Gurira) and the Dora Milaje (including Florence Kasumba), fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T’Challa’s death. As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with the help of War Dog Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) and Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) and forge a new path for the kingdom of Wakanda.
Do you wish you could’ve seen Chadwick Boseman in Black Panther 2? Let us know what you think!
Phase Four might be coming to a close, but MCU fans have a lot to look forward to with Phase Five and Phase Six. On Disney+, you can watch Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel, and She-Hulk. For movies, Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness and Thor: Love and Thunder are now on Disney+, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will release in theaters on November 11.