How Black Panther's Cast Came Together for Wakanda Forever

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has a natural emotional weight built into it as it is the Black Panther sequel made without Chadwick Boseman as the beloved actor passed away in 2020. After bursting into the Marvel Cinematic Universe in four movies as T'Challa and carrying himself with class and power off-screen, Boseman was in many ways the heart of the Black Panther franchise. Heading into Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the cast and crew honored Boseman's life and legacy with the role while also delivering a film which introduces new characters and gives existing characters an opportunity to deal with the grief that cast members and audiences are feeling in reality.

Marvel's VP of Production Nate Moore serves as a producer on Wakanda Forever. He spoke with ComicBook.com in an exclusive interview available now on the Phase Zero channel, opening up about moving forward with the film and healing with it, simultaneously. "It's losing Chad, which was a surprise for us, and trying to figure out a path forward," Moore said. "If you remember, we were also developing it in the pandemic and, so, I think, collectively, we were all navigating both the loss of life and the loss of human contact and the loss of all the things that sort of made us who we were. So, I think a lot of that spirit is in the text of the movie and in the spirit of us coming together to make it."

Marvel boss Kevin Feige echoed a similar sentiment during Wakanda Forever's press conference. "The shock turned into, 'What do we do? What should we do? Should we do anything?'" Feige said. "Relatively soon it was determined that this ensemble of characters and this world that was created on screen needed to continue." According to many of the early Wakanda Forever reactions, the film does a respectful job in honoring Boseman. 

Like Wakanda in the film which will pick up with the death of T'Challa in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the set of the Black Panther sequel found itself without the leader it had come to love.  "It became more of a collective leadership, to be honest," Moore explained. You know, Chad was such a north star as far as the character of T'Challa and the world of Wakanda, but, honestly, so is Ryan Coogler. And I think when Ryan and the cast got back together for the first time, it was really about a collective effort to make sure that we were getting all the details right and supporting each other. You know what I mean? So, it was a bit of a different vibe, but it was a very familial vibe 'cause we've also been through it."

Boseman's absence means cast members like Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Danai Gurira, and Angela Bassett are getting opportunities to emerge further and dive more deeply into their characters in Wakanda Forever. However, exploring their respective Shuri, M'Baku, Okoye, and Ramonda characters is juxtaposed with the introduction of a new MCU villain who drives them all to new challenges. Tenoch Huerta checks in as Namor, a popular character from comics who has some issues with Wakanda and their actions in the upcoming film.

"We thought it was really interesting, both to bring a little bit of the attitude of Namor from publishing on, who was always known as being incredibly arrogant and sort of confident, but also to ground it in a real conflict. And I think when Ryan decided to really anchor the world of Talocan in Mayan culture and to have Namor be a little bit of the voice of the colonized, it gave him a reason for that arrogance and a reason for that attitude and Tenoch really brings that to life in a way that we were so impressed by," Moore said of Namor. 

While Black Panther director Ryan Coogler has admitted to wanting Namor's debut to have come in the first film, Moore noted that there was no intention or desire to bring in other characters or teases in Wakanda Forever (no, not even Doctor Doom). "Obviously, the weight of this movie is a bit different and the tone of this movie is a bit different and it felt, especially, once people see the film, we felt the ending was so kind of poetic," Moore said. "To then go back and say, 'Hey, there's a tag at the end credits.' Felt a little disingenuous tonally for what we were doing. So, you know, much like Endgame didn't have a tag, this didn't feel like a movie that needed it."

Are you excited to see Black Panther: Wakanda Forever? Share your thoughts in the comment section or send them my way on Twitter. For more exclusive Marvel interviews, subscribe to the Phase Zero channel on YouTube. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever hits theaters on November 11.