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Ryan Coogler On His Original Plan For Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Before Chadwick Boseman Passed

October 19, 2022 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas
Black Panther Chadwick Boseman Image Credit: Marvel Studios

Ryan Coogler has revealed how his original script for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever played out before it was changed due to Chadwick Boseman’s passing. Coogler has written a script for the Black Panther sequel before the actor passed away of cancer in August of 2020, and Coogler gave some insight into the original film during a THR feature on Lupita Nyong’o.

“The script we wrote before Chadwick passed was very much rooted in T’Challa’s perspective,” Coogler said of the original sequel plans. “It was a massive movie but also simultaneously a character study that delved deeply into his psyche and situation.”

Once Boseman passed of course, the decision was made not to recast T’Challa. Nyong’o told the outlet she supported the decision, noting, “That is not the death of the Black Panther. That’s the whole point. It’s laying to rest [T’Challa] and allowing for real life to inform the story of the movies. I know that there are all sorts of reasons why people want him to be recast, but I don’t have the patience. I don’t have the presence of mind, or I don’t have the objectivity to argue with that. I don’t. I’m very biased.”

The new film opens on November 11th and stars Letitia Wright, Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, Florence Kasumba, Dominique Thorne, Tenoch Huerta, Martin Freeman and Angela Bassett. It is described as follows:

Queen Ramonda, Shuri, M’Baku, Okoye and the Dora Milaje 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 Nakia and Everett Ross to forge a new path for their beloved kingdom.