Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Producer Recalls Letitia Wright's "Terrifiying" On-Set Injury
One of the producers of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is recalling the on-set injury suffered by Letitia Wright while filming. The production of the Black Panther sequel was a tough one for the cast and crew following the sudden death of star Chadwick Boseman. However, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever became an instant hit at theaters, setting the record for the highest-grossing female-led superhero movie in the history of the United States box office. Letitia Wright's Shuri stepped up as the protagonist of the Marvel movie, but she also suffered a pretty serious injury during the shoot. Marvel Studios VP of Production & Development Nate Moore has gone into more detail on what he called the "terrifying" injury.
Nate Moore took part in a producers' roundtable hosted by The Hollywood Reporter, where he was asked about one of the scariest moments making Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. "Look, I mean, it's no secret that Panther was a tough one to get to screen, but the scariest moment was actually when Tish (Letitia Wright) got injured," Moore said. "So we were shooting some second unit work, some stunt work in Boston, and actually, the full crew was still in Atlanta. So I got a call in the middle of the night from the ambulance. And that is terrifying, because it's not just about the movie at that point, now about the person, and a person I've known for years. And as a producer, you feel responsible for everybody in your crew, so you feel responsible for having her in that position in the first place."
While getting the schedule put back together in the aftermath was the easy part, what was most concerning for Moore was Wright's physical and mental well-being. "And picking up the pieces and figuring out the schedule was almost the easier part than figuring out how to get Tish's head right and to get her the help that she needed, both physically and mentally, because that was a huge traumatic thing for her to go through," he continued. "And to make her comfortable to come back and perform at the level that she was performing, you don't know if you're gonna come back from that, to be quite honest, but she did. I mean, she's such a trooper and gave a fantastic performance when she was able to get back, but as a moment, there was nothing scarier than getting that phone call."
Letitia Wright's Injury Shuts Down Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Production
Marvel Studios temporarily suspended production on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, in the wake of star Letitia Wright's on-set injury. Production was paused due to the "severity" of Wright's injury, which occurred in August 2021 while filming with a stunt rig on location in Boston. Wright left for London shortly after the injury and the film shot around her character of Shuri, but the Atlanta production eventually filmed all it could without Wright being on set. Production reportedly shut down the week of Thanksgiving and resumed in early 2022.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever makes its Disney+ debut on February 1st.