MOVIE NEWS – In Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, we could have seen Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa dealing with the aftermath of the “Blip” – or the “snap” of Thanos.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever director Ryan Coogler has revealed details of the original storyline for the sequel. Unfortunately, that story never materialised after the untimely death of star Chadwick Boseman. Speaking to Inverse, Coogler revealed that the sequel would have focused on T’Challa. He would have picked up the thread shortly after the King was “resurrected” at the end of Avengers: Endgame. The film would have dealt with grief and loss. Themes that would be even more pervasive in the rewritten second part.

“The tonal shift, I will say, was less of a shift than in [casting]. The tone was going to be similar. [T’Challa] was going to be grieving the loss of time, you know, coming back after being gone for five years.”

“As a man with so much responsibility to so many, coming back after a forced five years absence, that’s what the film was tackling. He was grieving time he couldn’t get back. Grief was a big part of it.”

It is extraordinary that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was always about grief and loss. Elements that will be even more prominent in the finished film. Coogler revealed how difficult it was to develop the Marvel sequel after Boseman’s death.

“I spent the last year preparing, imagining and writing words for him to say, that we weren’t destined to see.”

Some people reading this idea will wish it had happened. Some Marvel fans still feel that the studio should have recast T’Challa. They should have let the character’s story continue. However, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige recently explained why this was not the right choice for the project. “It just felt like it was much too soon to recast. Stan Lee always said that Marvel represents the world outside your window. And we had talked about how, as extraordinary and fantastical as our characters and stories are, there’s a relatable and human element to everything we do. The world is still processing the loss of Chad. And Ryan poured that into the story.”

The torch is passed on in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Instead, Black Panther’s mantle will be passed on to someone else in the second part. Many speculate that Letitia Wright’s character Shuri will be the one to take up the vibranium suit. According to Coogler, Boseman would have agreed with that decision. “It’s complicated, you know,” the director began. “What I will say is, Chadwick was all about pushing things forward while being aware of what took place behind him.”

“That concept is one of the things that I’ll always hold in terms of lessons from him. And he was also so, so, so, so brilliant at understanding moments and the moment he was in.”

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will mirror the death of Chadwick Boseman, as Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Shuri (Letitia Wright), M’Baku (Winston Duke) and Okoye (Danai Gurira) fight to protect their nation from interfering world powers after the death of King T’Challa.

The film premieres tomorrow, and we’re getting ready to share our thoughts with you.

Source: Inverse