The following article contains spoilers for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.After Chadwick Boseman's death, there was a lot of talk about who would replace King T'Challa in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Producer Nate Moore has now revealed that there was only one option to replace T'Challa from the beginning, and it was to turn Letitia Wright's Shuri into the protagonist.
Towards the beginning of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Wright's Shuri resists the conversations about replacing her brother T'Challa. However, as the story progresses, the character realizes that someone needs to step up for the sake of Wakanda's safety and takes on the role of their savior. Moore has confirmed that it was the plan all along, ever since they began to re-write the Black Panther 2. It was “the only conversation” they had, and they went through with it until the end.
When speaking with Kevin Polowy from Yahoo!, Moore opened up about replacing the Black Panther mantle. “When you think about it narratively with the story we were telling, [Shuri] is the most affected by T'Challa's passing. She's maybe the only one with the tools to bring the Black Panther mantle back,” Moore said. In the first film, the Heart-Shaped Herb was destroyed, and only Shuri is capable of bringing it back to life with the help of technology and her artificial intelligence partner Griot.
When the discussion to replace T'Challa as Black Panther first began, many fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe called for Winston Duke's M'Baku or Danai Gurira's Okoye to take charge instead of Shuri. But, the studio had its heart and mind set on Shuri. “Calls for M'Baku or Okoye seemed a bit like throwing darts at a dartboard for me,” Moore said, commending Wright for nailing the role. “Her transition from where she starts and where she ends in this film tells the story of why she should be Black Panther,” he stated.
Boseman's death came as a shock not just to fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe but also to the crew and cast of Black Panther. It was revealed that nobody, including Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige, was aware of Boseman's diagnosis or his treatment. When his co-stars learnt of Boseman's passing, they were heartbroken and unwilling to go on without him.
Director Ryan Coogler still struggles to speak about the actor in interviews and inevitably gets emotional. Wright thought of Boseman as her brother, both on and off-screen, and was in denial when she learned of his death. But, they have all learned to move on and vowed to create a film that would honor Boseman's legacy.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is showing in theaters globally.
Source: Kevin Polowy/Twitter