Black Panther Composer Ludwig Goransson Confirms Return For Sequel

Production has begun on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever with principal photography currently underway at various locations, including second unit work in locales along the east coast and filming at Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta and it sounds like work is also just beginning on the score for the film as well, with composer Ludwig Goransson returning for the followup to 2018’s Black Panther. Goransson told Variety that he will be composing the score for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and that he’s started having conversations with the film’s director, Ryan Coogler.

“I’m starting conceptual ideas and having conversations with Ryan,” Goransson said.

Goransson won an Academy Award for his score for Black Panther and previously discussed the creative process behind making the music for that film with Slashfilm, including how important it was for the music to be rooted in traditional African music.

“The most important thing for me and [director] Ryan [Coogler] in making the music for this film was to have the score rooted in traditional African music,” Göransson explained. “That was the number one most important thing. I actually went to West Africa right after I read the script. I told Ryan, ‘The only way I can score this movie is to go to Africa and do my research and immerse myself in the culture.’”

He continued, “It was incredible. It was such an experience,” he shared. “I was so moved by it. But after I saw it, I immediately understood that in order for me to really make the music work, I need to use this traditional African music and all of these instruments, but I also need to put the elements of that cinematic sweep of the orchestra, and also modern hip-hop production. So the most difficult part was to figure out how to infuse that traditional African music with an orchestra, but still keep the music sounding African.”

With work on the score for Black Panther 2 in its very early stages, it’s unclear what process Goransson will undertake this time around. As for Black Panther, the score from that film will be performed in three live-to-picture performances at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl on September 10th, September 11th, and September 12th, courtesy of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Senegalese singer Baaba Maal, and an ensemble of African drummers. The performance will be conducted by Thomas Wilkins, principal conductor of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.

“I was thrilled,” Goransson said of being approached for the project. “What was most important to me was that we get the right players to play this. We have the best orchestra in the world, now let’s get the African musicians who played on the score.”

“[The film] was such a big part of my life, not just my music or my career,” Goransson continued. “I was so committed, personally and musically, that I grew into another stage of my life. So going back to that now, revisiting that, is going to be heavy.”

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is set to debut in theaters on July 8, 2022.