With his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut, Black Panther director Ryan Coogler delivered a film humming with questions. There was T’Challa’s ruminations on what kind of leader he wanted to be, caught between his father’s complicated legacy and the possibilities of a different future. There was that loud challenge from antagonist Killmonger in the throne room as he vied for power: “Is this your king?” There was the tension between whether Wakanda should reveal itself to the world, or stay hidden. It was a blockbuster with much on its mind. Now, four years later, Coogler is back with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – a film that comes in the wake of the unthinkable loss of Chadwick Boseman, who passed away from cancer in August 2020. That tragedy drove the question the director says is central to his sequel: ‘How do you carry on in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds?’
It’s a notion with resonance in the film itself, but also for the indelible Boseman’s fans, filmmaking collaborators, friends, and family – all of us processing his loss, as well as the global upheaval of the pandemic. “Unfortunately, that question became more and more relevant. Both for humanity as a whole, but also for the people in our production who were coming back for this one,” Coogler tells Empire in our world-exclusive Black Panther: Wakanda Forever feature. “It became super-relevant when we lost our bro.”
Coogler had already worked up an initial sequel idea involving T’Challa (one that he says was “spiritually very similar” to Wakanda Forever) before Boseman, who kept his illness private, passed away in August of 2020. After that, everything changed. “Maturity is about being faced with impossible questions, and still making a choice and moving forward,” says Coogler. One of the ways forward? Take the stellar supporting cast of Black Panther – from Letitia Wright’s Shuri, to Angela Bassett’s Queen Ramonda, to Winston Duke’s M’Baku, and Lupita Nyong’o’s Nakia – and give them the spotlight. “This unique group is more like a band than it is a group of actors, and Chad was our lead singer,” the filmmaker explains. “So for me, it was like, ‘How do I figure out a song that they can still get up there and sing?’, in light of what we were dealing with.”
For the cast, it required total trust in their director. “I didn’t have doubts – I had dread,” admits Nyong’o. “Ryan had walked me through what the film was going to be when Chadwick was still alive. And so once we lost him, the thought that we could go on, it was just unfathomable to me.” But against all the odds, Coogler created something that will honour both T’Challa, and Chadwick Boseman himself – and Nyong’o’s fears were quelled. “What Ryan ended up sharing with me was just so utterly truthful and beautiful,” she says. “By the end of it, I was in tears.” For audiences, there’s no question about it – we’re in for something epic, emotional, and deeply cathartic.
Read Empire’s full world-exclusive Black Panther: Wakanda Forever feature – with the complete story on a film with all the odds stacked against it, featuring never-before-seen images and brand new interviews with director Ryan Coogler, Marvel boss Kevin Feige, stars Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Angela Bassett, Winston Duke, Dominique Thorne, Tenoch Huerta, and more – in the November 2022 issue, on sale Thursday 29 September. Pre-order a copy online here now. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is due in UK cinemas from 11 November.