Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Star Originally Objected To Their Storyline

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is now playing in theatres, and it’s already earned a lot of money at the box office. The Marvel sequel was not an easy one to make due to the tragic passing of the first film’s star, Chadwick Boseman. The cast and crew of Wakanda Forever have expressed how making the new film was an extremely emotional experience. Not only was Boseman’s character T’Challa killed off in the beginning of the film, but the movie also featured another shocking death. Warning: Spoilers Ahead! During the film, Angela Bassett’s Queen Ramonda was killed after a confrontation with Namor (Tenoch Huerta). During a recent interview with IndieWire, Bassett admitted she originally fought against her character’s death. 

“I objected,” Bassett revealed. “Yeah, I was like, ‘Ryan [Coogler], what are you doing? Why? You will rue the day! You will rue the demise of [Ramonda]. People are gonna be so upset.’ … He was like, ‘Angela, I know, I know, but look, to die is not really to die in this world. It doesn’t really have to mean that.’” Bassett said she felt better about the decision after thinking back on how all of the characters who “poofed” in Avengers: Endgame. The star has come to terms with the fact that she could always return. “All kinds of crazy things happen,” Bassett explained.

Currently, Bassett’s name is being considered for a possible Best Supporting Actress nomination at the Oscars for her role in Wakanda Forever, so she also talked about her legacy in the interview. “The audience is family to me, and theater is sacred to me… And so I always think about how it’s going to last. It’s gonna last on celluloid or digital or whatever you want to call it. It is going to last when I’m long gone.”

What Has Angela Bassett Said About Chadwick Boseman’s Legacy?

Recently, Entertainment Tonight asked Bassett about the idea of recasting King T’Challa in the MCU. “That’s interesting. Well I had not thought about that idea,” Bassett said of using CGI, “but of course it is Wakanda and they are, in terms of technology, they are so far ahead of the rest of the world that they would be able to bring some of that.” She continued, “It’s a tremendous loss but Kevin [Feige] and the Marvel universe and Ryan [Coogler], the director, the writer from before, they are committed to telling [a story] and equally as much as we can, equally planned. So we are looking forward to that. Looking forward to what they come up with.” She admits that the studio will “have to do a major pivot and they are still working on that now because none of us knew anything.”

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is now playing in theaters.