Even on the set of the firstBlack Panther,Ryan Cooglerwas always looking to the future.
He was only 43.
I was like, ‘Man, how could I open myself up to feeling like this again?'"
Angela Bassett as Queen Ramonda in ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’.Annette Brown/Marvel Studios
In the days and weeks following Boseman’s death, Coogler started replaying memories in his head.
“I decided that it made more sense to keep going.”
Wakanda Foreveris a story of grief, and Boseman’s death shaped both the plot and the filmmaking process.
Angela Bassett as Queen Ramonda in ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’.Annette Brown/Marvel Studios
Nyong’o, 39, remembers.
“He said it to pump us up when the day was getting long and arduous.
We would echo it all around the set to get refocused and re-energized.”
Danai Gurira as Okoye and Letitia Wright as Shuri in ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’.Eli Adé/Marvel Studios
“This is a country that has taken a lot of hits,” Gurira, 44, says.
“We know what happened in theAvengersmovies and what it’s dealing with.”
Each character is grappling with change in a different way.
Winston Duke as M’Baku in ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’.Eli Adé/Marvel Studios
Duke’s M’Baku is still leading the Jabari tribe, while taking a more prominent role in Wakandan affairs.
It’s a lot for her to handle."
That has changed my life forever."
Danai Gurira as Okoye and Angela Bassett as Queen Ramonda in ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’.Eli Adé/Marvel Studios
The actress suffered a critical shoulder fracture and concussion and was briefly hospitalized.
Filmingpaused for a few weeksas she recovered an additional setback for an already tricky shoot.
“Ryan, he was incredibly supportive.
That was my experience.
But by God’s grace, I made it through, and I came back stronger.”
The title may beWakanda Forever,but Wakanda isn’t the only powerful nation to play a major role.
The film introduces the underwater kingdom of Talokan, led by the powerfulNamor.
“He’s always been really cool and charismatic, but also arrogant,” Coogler says.
“He’s kind of an asshole, kind of romantic, and just incredibly powerful.”
“He’s taking care of a community.
He’s not an individualist.
He’s part of a tribe.”
“I never lie!”
the actor says now with a laugh.
“I never drowned before, so that’s not a lie.”
(To prepare for the role, he took swimming lessons.
In the comics, Namor rules the kingdom of Atlantis, a Grecian-inspired underwater paradise.
Production designerHannah Beachlerand costume designerRuth E. Carterare both back afterwinning groundbreaking Oscarsfor their work on the firstBlack Panther.
“We did a deep dive, because we wanted to get it right,” Beachler says.
“I think this is going to be the freshest Atlantis that you’ll ever see.
Certainly with Ryan Coogler at the helm, it’s going to be special.”
“It looked like those fish we love to watch on the National Geographic channel.”
“That’s what inclusion means.
It’s not just putting some brown-skinned people in front of the camera or giving them an important role.
It’s how you’re creating the movie.
What is the voice of the production of the movie?”
“I love the fact that she is just fully herself,” Thorne, 25, says.
“She’s definitely not the typical or traditional superhero.
“It’s like that’s being done again in a fresh, beautiful way,” Wright says.
Thorne actually auditioned for the originalBlack Pantherback when she was a sophomore in college.
When Thorne said yes, she assumed Moore would ask her to audition or send in a self-tape.
Instead, he offered her the role right then and there.
Thorne jokes that she technicallydidaudition forWakanda Forever,just a few years too early.
“At the time, I was like, ‘Yeah, yeah, sure, okay.
That’s what you tell everybody, isn’t it?’
But I guess they meant what they said.”
Not only wasBlack Panthera record-setting superhero blockbuster, but it also sparked global discussions about Black representation on screen.
“We would take turns doing that.”
“I always carried him in every scene,” Wright says.
“I always would ask, ‘Bro, what do you think?’
and just venture to keep a spiritual connection.
He meant everything to me, and he’s the reason why I’m here.
He picked me to be his sister, so I couldn’t have done this journey without him.”
“It was unfathomable to me.
Coogler and Marvel have said many times that they never considered recasting T’Challa with another actor.
For them to do their best work, they have to believe in it.
At the end of the day, the choices we make have to feel truthful to me.
And I will argue that those projects don’t have a shot at working.”
“Sometimes a wave can take you away where you lose control of it.
You think you’re in control, but the water can always remind you that you’re not.”
And sometimes, that wave can carry you exactly where you oughta go.
