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Fans are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Black Panther sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever which is set to hit theaters on July 8th of 2022. Marvel’s president Kevin Feige officially confirmed last month that the film would pick back up with production on June 29, however, there are so many questions left looming now following the loss of the film’s main star Chadwick Boseman. The 43-year-old actor died after a 4-year-long private battle with colon cancer last year.
Angela Bassett who plays Queen Romona in the film sat down for an interview with ET on Wednesday to share some behind-the-scenes details on the sequel’s production and talk about her experience on set.
“I don’t know what it’s going to look like at all,” Bassett explained of the film’s new script. “There have been about five incarnations of the script and I hear another one’s coming.”
Bassett continued;
“Of course, with our dear king [Chadwick Boseman] going on to glory, a lot of things had to be shifted and changed. So thankfully, [director] Ryan [Coogler] and [writer] Joe Robert Cole, they’re just such masterful storytellers that they’ve found a way into this world, and hopefully it will be satisfying, I think, for the fans and it will be honorable of our Chad. We love our king,” she added.
Back in December 2020, Feige announced during Disney’s Investor’s meeting that Boseman’s role as T’Challa would not be recast. The Marvel boss expressed that the film’s director Ryan Coogler would be looking to explore the stories of other characters within the Black Panther universe.
“We’re not going to have a CG Chadwick and we’re not recasting T’Challa,” he said at the time. “Ryan Coogler is working very hard right now on the script with all the respect and love and genius that he has, which gives us great solace, so it was always about furthering the mythology and the inspiration of Wakanda. There’s also the task of honoring and respecting the ongoing learnings and teachings from Chad as well.”
The film’s executive producer Victoria Alonso re-iterated Feige’s statement confirming that T’Challa’s character wouldn’t be digitally rendered either.
“There’s only one Chadwick, and he’s no longer with us,” Alonso echoed. “Sadly, our king has died in real life, not only in fiction, and we’re taking a little time to see how we continue the story and how to honor this chapter of what has unexpectedly happened to us, so painful and terrible to be honest.”
“Chadwick wasn’t only a wonderful human being, every day of the 5 years we spent together, but also, I believe, that what he did as a character elevated us as a company, and has left his moment on history,” she expressed.
