Black Panther: Kevin Feige Shares Statement as Wakanda Forever Start Production

After John Wick Chapter 4 and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom went into production yesterday, today marked the start of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. To mark the occasion, director Ryan Coogler and producer Kevin Feige both issued brief statements, with Feige's focusing on the challenge of moving forward in the franchise without Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman, who passed away after a four-year battle with cancer in 2020. The first movie was a once-in-a-generation cinematic phenomenon, which married the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the amazing filmmaking of Coogler and the rise of cultural awareness and social justice in mainstream entertainment.

Coogler praised the cast and Marvel, and Feige promised that the movie they're making is something that would make Chadwick Boseman proud.

"It's clearly very emotional without Chad," Feige said before the Black Widow Global Fan Event in Los Angeles on Tuesday night. "But everyone is also very excited to bring the world of Wakanda back to the public and back to the fans. We're going to do it in a way that would make Chad proud."

Series star Lupita Nyong'o talked about the upcoming sequel recently with Yahoo!. She revealed that Ryan Coogler and company have been busy retooling it to accommodate for the loss of Boseman.

"People will ask me, 'Are you excited to go back?' Excitement isn't the word. I feel like I'm in a very pensive and meditative state when it comes to Black Panther 2. His passing is still extremely raw for me," Nyong'o said. "And I can't even begin to imagine what it will be like to step on set and not have him there... But at the same time we have a leader in Ryan, who feels very much like we do, who feels the loss in a very, very real way as well."

"And his idea, the way which he has reshaped the second movie is so respectful of the loss we've all experienced as a cast and as a world," she added. "So it feels spiritually and emotionally correct to do this. And hopefully, what I do look forward to, is getting back together and honoring what he started with us and holding his light through it. Because he left us a lot of light that we're still going to be bathing in. I know that for sure."

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will stride into theaters July 8, 2022. You can stream the first movie on Disney+ right now.

Are you excited for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever? Let us know down in the comments!