Letitia Wright as Shuri in Marvel Studios' Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2022 MARVEL.
Courtney Howard // Film Critic
BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER was hit hard by the untimely death of star Chadwick Boseman and with that immeasurable loss, sorrow and anxiety came a new creative challenge to deliver a sequel befitting of a king. For filmmaker Ryan Coogler, that meant exploring the blast radius of grief through the lens of those closest to him: the women of Wakanda.
The decision to put them at the front and center of the sequel came naturally. At the film’s recent virtual press day, producer Nate Moore says,
“It was just the right story to tell. These were the characters who were most affected by T’Challa’s passing and so we focused on the people who were appropriate.”
He clarifies further.
“It’s not about pushing women forward or holding men back. It’s about telling the story that is organic. It’s just telling good stories. We are blessed with an amazing cast who breathes life into these characters and makes you wanna see what’s happening with Shuri, or what’s happening with Okoye or what’s happening with Lupita or what’s happening with Ramonda. To not highlight them would’ve been a disservice to the story.
The movie’s better for it, because if we would’ve had to wedge in some new male characters just to have that voice, that would’ve seemed sort of more performative than just telling the story we told.”
Coogler adds,
“Joe Robert Cole my cowriter, and I…it was a team effort and this was what made sense to us. What we wanted to look at was when you lose somebody, there’s a blast radius, that’s like a bomb that goes off – and who was the closest to it – and that’s who we explored. The main characters, their identities, were kinda wrapped up in this man, is the truth of it.
Shuri, every day she was alive, she had her brother. So when she lost him, you know, what we discovered while we were working on the script was that she really lost her sense of self. She identified herself as this guy’s little sister and as his protector and as the person who looks out for him. So when she loses that, it makes her very unmoored. It wasn’t really about gender, directly. It was about who would be most affected.”
To play these two different versions of the character was what connected with Letitia Wright.
“It was, firstly [it was] that heart-to-heart conversation of how do we take a step forward? Gentle step forward, ‘cause it’s so raw. And it was just Ryan talking me through how the different characters, how the world was going to expand a bit. But also, how we were gonna grow. We all take so much different turns. And Shuri does, too.
We meet her in the first film and she is that ray of sunshine. She’s so clothed and protected in royalty and love – and proud of her big brother taking the step, following on his father’s legacy. She just wants to create. I love Shuri in the first one because there was no limit to her, as well.”
She continues,
“It was like she was the person her brother went to for his protection, his armor. And he encouraged that. Her family encouraged her to be a genius and to be faithfully and wonderfully made. So, we follow on from that. What does that look like, when your heart is broken? It was just Ryan’s guidance on how do we create a full arc of this human being – of this young woman going to through something alongside her fellow family members, in general, and Wakandans.”
The character of Nakia is also dealing with grief having also loved T’Challa. Lupita Nyong’o plays these delicate facets of her journey with insight and restraint. She states,
“I felt raw and wanted to express it. Nakia, though, she is an example of someone who – she’s just a little further along in terms of her processing. It’s not like she has it all figured out, but in the first film, Ryan described her as T’Challa’s oasis. And that really, really resonated with me. When I was reading this script and thinking about where she is, I realized that what she was once to T’Challa, she now has the opportunity to offer Shuri. And it made a lot of sense in terms of the structure and architecture of the story.
When we’re talking about exploration of grief, it’s really grounding to have someone who is befriending of the change for the people in the story, but also for an audience. And the fact that she was T’Challa’s love, in a way I guess it allows an audience to know that it’s okay. As much as I was frustrated with Ryan for doing that with Nakia, actually playing her was very therapeutic for me, because it had me… I had to look beyond my frustrations with losing Chadwick, and learn from her, learn from that wisdom that she seems to possess. For that I’m really grateful.”
Okoye is also dealt a different hand in this follow-up chapter. She’s having to get over a personal defeat as her main obstacle. Danai Gurira confesses she loved seeing these new colors of her character.
“I’m very thankful for the idea that these characters get to explore so many facets of their humanness. That is something that is crucial with a platform this unprecedented, is that we see a kaleidoscope of their humanness and the world gets to see that. Because it isn’t very common. We don’t get to see them do that much. I felt quite displaced in the process.
That was connected to what my character was experiencing and that was connected also to a little experience of the loss of our brother. That was the key thing, for me, anchoring me was the goal of honoring him, and the way he loved excellency. He loved to see us shine and loved to see us do our thing. He would always give us so much encouragement about doing great things. That was really an anchoring aspect throughout the process for me.”
As far as the adversaries go in BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER, Mabel Cadena, who plays Namora, had fun matching the established characters’ wit, strength and wisdom. And she was eager for the challenge to open up her world.
“We needed training a lot, physical, mental, because I needed to be, in my mind, very strong. I need to learn English, Maya, because it’s amazing. We have indigenous language for the first time in a movie like this. I feel proud about this challenge. What’s really hard learn about the Maya language.
This movie has a lot of diversity, a lot of colors, a lot of language, and I’m very proud to be part of something like this, because it’s not just a superhero movie. Before I never thought I could be a superhero. And now, I have this new opportunity for believe in me in the world, in the fiction, in my world, I have new expectation about my career and I’m very happy for being here.”
BLACK PANTHER opens in theaters on November 11.
