Letitia Wright has said that the thought of filming Black Panther 2 without leading man Chadwick Boseman is “strange”. Wright plays Shuri, the younger sister of Black Panther himself, T’Challa, in the movie. Boseman passed away in August.
“We’re just still mourning Chad, so it’s not something I even want to think about,” she told Net-a-Porter. “The thought of doing it without him is kinda strange. We’re just grieving at the moment, so it’s trying to find the light in the midst of it.”
Boseman’s death came as a shock to many – the actor had been privately living with colon cancer for four years. Neither Marvel nor parent company Disney have confirmed any details of the sequel’s future without him. The first Black Panther earned over $1 billion at the box office and was nominated for Best Picture at the 2019 Oscars.
How do you make Black Panther 2 without Black Panther? Some people believe Shuri should take over the title, based on a plot in the comic books in which T’Challa falls into a coma and Shuri must defend Wakanda in his place.
The Black Panther sequel was scheduled for release in 2022, with production expected to start in March 2021. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Boseman believed he would be well enough to start working on the sequel until around a week before his death. No one involved with the franchise knew that Boseman was ill.
“I spent the last year preparing, imagining and writing words for him to say, that we weren’t destined to see,” director Ryan Coogler wrote in an emotional tribute. Whatever direction the sequel takes, we’re sure Boseman’s impact will be felt.
