Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the eagerly awaited follow-up to Marvel’s smash Black Panther, was finally released in theatres worldwide in November after being postponed due to Chadwick Boseman’s unexpected death in 2020 and production issues. Boseman (T’Challa/Black Panther) was originally supposed to appear in the sequel, but tragically, the plot had to alter. Ryan Coogler, the film’s director and co-screenwriter, and Joe Robert Cole, another co-screenwriter, took the film in a unique route, including their choice to begin it with a tearjerking and emotional moment. The pair recently discussed the choice and the discussion that preceded it with the New York Times.
As her brother sits upstairs on his deathbed, Shuri (Letitia Wright) spends the first few minutes of Wakanda Forever feverishly trying to find a method to treat his illness. Shuri learned that T’Challa had gone away while she was at work from her mother, Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), which meant she was unable to say farewell to him. Cole points out that by doing this soon away, it was easier to highlight how Shuri was affected by his death.
