Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Originally Centered on T'Challa's Evolution as a Leader

Recent trailers have teased how Black Panther: Wakanda Forever moves on after the tragic death of Chadwick Boseman, but there are now details on how T'Challa's evolution was originally the focus of the Black Panther sequel. The first trailer for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever showed how the African nation is mourning the death of its king, as Marvel Studios has decided not to recast the role after Boseman's death. Director Ryan Coogler and co-writer Joe Robert Cole had the hard task of reworking the film's script, which leaned heavily into Chadwick Boseman's Marvel hero.

"Losing your centerpiece, everything changed," Lupita Nyong'o told The Hollywood Reporter. "When you say the world rotated around him, it revolved around him, it did." Coogler then discussed how the Wakanda Forever script was from the perspective of T'Challa. "The script we wrote before Chadwick passed was very much rooted in T'Challa's perspective," Coogler said. "It was a massive movie but also simultaneously a character study that delved deeply into his psyche and situation."

Nyong'o also spoke about the online debate regarding Marvel Studios choosing not to recast the role of T'Challa, which she agrees with. "That is not the death of the Black Panther, that's the whole point," Nyong'o said. "It's laying to rest [T'Challa] and allowing for real life to inform the story of the movies. I know that there are all sorts of reasons why people want him to be recast, but I don't have the patience. I don't have the presence of mind, or I don't have the objectivity to argue with that. I don't. I'm very biased."

How Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Honors Chadwick Boseman

The first trailer for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever revealed that the movie will mirror real life, with the cast mourning the death of King T'Challa. While T'Challa may be dead, the role of Black Panther will live on, as another character will don the Vibranium costume to protect Wakanda from Namor and his underwater kingdom of Talocan. New materials released to the press reveal how much time has passed since T'Challa's death: 12 months.

"Ramonda realizes that it's been a year since T'Challa's passing and Shuri's still not healing — she's not taking steps to move forward in a healthy way," said director and co-writer Coogler. "They take a retreat — stepping away from the city, from the technology — to sit with no distractions and perform what is essentially a grief ritual. That's when Namor shows up."

Is Namor the Villain in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever?

Namor (Tenoch Huerta) is the hybrid mutant king of Talocan, a hidden undersea nation that rivals Wakanda. Along with his allies Namora (Mabel Cadena) and Attuma (Alex Livanalli), Namor and the Talocanians prepare to wage war with the surface dwellers.

Instead of hailing from Atlantis, the MCU version of Namor the Sub-Mariner rules over Talocan, which comes from Aztec mythology. Namor has also been confirmed to be a mutant in the MCU.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever premieres in theaters on November 11th.