LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥� Letitia Wright hit the Marvel Cinematic Universe scene as King T鈥機halla鈥檚 joyfully witty younger sister in 2018鈥檚 blockbuster 鈥淏lack Panther.鈥� But in the new sequel, the actor鈥檚 usual easygoing character delivers a more serious tone while dealing with grief.
Wright's character takes center stage as Shuri who ventures into womanhood after the death of T'Challa. She鈥檒l be looked upon to take the iconic Black Panther mantle in 鈥淏lack Panther: Wakanda Forever,鈥� which releases in theaters Friday. Chadwick Boseman, who played T'Challa died in August 2020.
In between 鈥淧anther鈥� films, Wright took on a few movie projects that exercised her dramatic acting chops.
鈥淚 always try to do things that are outside the box and what people wouldn鈥檛 expect,鈥� said Wright, who starred in dramas 鈥淭he Silent Twins鈥� and 鈥淎isha.鈥� She also stars in 鈥淪urrounded,鈥� which releases next year. The actor said each of those projects challenged her enough to 鈥渟tretch me as an artist.鈥�
鈥淭hat naturally helped me grow a lot more,鈥� said the actor, whose Shuri character also appeared in 鈥淎vengers: Infinity War鈥� and 鈥淎vengers: Endgame鈥� as Wakanda's princess and chief scientist. 鈥淲e know Shuri as the fun, vibrant sister of the first film. 鈥� But in the film, we really followed that journey of womanhood for her.鈥�
Wright credits director Ryan Coogler for ushering Shuri鈥檚 maturation along in his rewritten script following Boseman鈥檚 unexpected . The director carried an even heavier burden to deliver a strong script 鈥� especially after 鈥淏lack Panther鈥� broke box office records, earned $700 million domestically during its theatrical run and became the first superhero film nominated for best picture at the Academy Awards.
For the "Black Panther'' follow, Coogler had developed a screenplay centered around T鈥機halla grieving lost time following Thanos鈥� snap in 鈥淎vengers: Infinity War,鈥� which caused a five-year 鈥渂lip.鈥� But after Boseman's death, Coogler and filmmaker Joe Robert Cole went back to the drawing board. They worked up a script that delved more into the concept of Wakanda鈥檚 grief in the wake of T鈥機halla鈥檚 death.
Coogler said Boseman鈥檚 family signed off on his character鈥檚 鈥渞espectful鈥� death in 鈥淲akanda Forever.鈥� In the new film, the Wakandans are put in a peculiar spot to protect their nation without T鈥機halla against a new nemesis, Namor, a sub-marine Talocan leader who has extraordinary mutant-like abilities and can fly with the aid of tiny wings on his ankles. Namor is played by Tenoch Huerta.
鈥淭his script was born of the truth in our lives that we had lost Chadwick Boseman,鈥� said Lupita Nyong鈥檕, who plays Nakia, a war spy and T鈥機halla鈥檚 lover. She said the characters dealt with T'Challa's loss differently in the film.
鈥淔or me personally, I was relieved that we got to speak our truth,鈥� Nyong鈥檕 said. 鈥淲e got to express the grief that we were feeling and put it to good use.鈥�
Wright and Nyong鈥檕 said they used their grief over Boseman to fuel their performances, while Coogler said his mournful remembrance of the late actor helped motivate him through his writing and directing process. The director said several photos of Boseman were posted on set, and a prop master put inside Coogler's trailer a shield and spear that T鈥機halla held during a duel with Michael B. Jordan's Killmonger at Warrior Falls in 鈥淏lack Panther.鈥�
Before filming the project, the entire cast 鈥� including the newcomers 鈥� visited Boseman鈥檚 burial site. It turned into a bonding moment.
鈥淲e tried to make a movie to honor the legacy of Chadwick,鈥� Huerta said. 鈥淭he movie is about grieving. It was happening at the same time as reality. They were able to integrate what was happening in real life into fiction. Art is kind of therapy. It helped us deal with the reality and things we can鈥檛 understand.鈥�
The cast leaned on each other during the filming process, which had several setbacks and obstacles. Production took longer than expected after Wright was and several cast and crew members tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. Wright was attacked for sharing an anti-vaccination video, and Coogler was briefly handcuffed by Atlanta police after being earlier this year.
鈥淲e certainly had bumps in the road, but people pulled together,鈥� said Nate Moore, the vice president of production and development at Marvel Studios. He was a producer on the 鈥淐aptain America: The Winter Soldier,鈥� 鈥淓ternals鈥� and executive producer on 鈥淏lack Panther.鈥�
Moore said the filming experience of 鈥淲akanda Forever鈥� was the toughest, but he said the whole cast and crew showed resilience through adversity.
鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 pull apart,鈥� Moore said. 鈥淚f it were a different filmmaker, who didn鈥檛 have such great relationships with everybody, we would鈥檝e seen a lot more partition from the crew, which we didn鈥檛 really. The cast could鈥檝e gotten frustrated with the stopping and starting that we were forced to do, but they didn鈥檛. They believe in what this movie was about and Ryan鈥檚 vision. As hard as it was, we had each other.鈥�
Nyong鈥檕 said cast members comforted each other in grieving Boseman while attempting to keep the kingdom of Wakanda moving forward.
鈥淚t was joyful and sometimes it was hard,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut there was a lot of levity as well, because we had so many powerful, joyful memories of Chadwick to share with one another.鈥�
Jonathan Landrum Jr., The Associated Press
