Black Panther Director Ryan Coogler has revealed he is considering ending his directing career following the death of Chadwick Boseman.
“I was at a point where I was like, ‘I’m stepping away from this business,'” Coogler told Entertainment Weekly. ‘I didn’t know if I could do another film period, [let alone] another Black Panther movie, because it hurt a lot. I was like, ‘Man, how could I open up to feel like this again?’
Chadwick Boseman died in August 2020, after a four-year battle with cancer. He was diagnosed with stage III color cancer in 2016, around the time he made his debut as Black Panther in Captain America: Civil War, battling the disease for four years as it progressed to stage IV. According to reports, Boseman never told anyone at Disney or Marvel about his diagnosis, believing he would have beaten the disease in time to return for the Black Panther after.
“I was leaning on a lot of our conversations that we had, towards what I realized was the end of his life,” Coogler added. “I decided it made more sense to continue.”
Following the death of Chadwick Boseman, Marvel’s Kevin Feige said the people behind Black Panther: Wakanda Forever wouldn’t be recasting his T’Challa character. Instead, Marvel made wakanda forever as a way to honor his legacy, with a new character (based on reports, Boseman’s on-screen sister Shuri, played by Letitia Wright) taking on the role of Black Panther.
“It’s my job as a filmmaker to do things that I have personal integrity with,” Coogler said. “If I don’t believe in what I’m doing, I’m going to have a hard time getting others to do their best. For them to do their best, they have to believe in it. In the end, the choices we make must feel true to me. When filmmakers do things that don’t feel right to them, you can feel it. And I will argue that these projects have no chance of working.
The official synopsis of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever can be found below, courtesy of Disney.
“In Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Shuri (Letitia Wright), M’Baku (Winston Duke), Okoye (Danai Gurira) and Dora Milaje (including Florence Kasumba), fight to protect their nation from world powers intervening in the wake of King T’Challa’s death. As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with the help of War Dog Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) and Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) and chart a new course for the kingdom of Wakanda.
Directed by Ryan Coogler from a script he co-wrote with Joe Robert Cole, wakanda forever stars Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, Florence Kasumba, Dominique Thorne, Michaela Coel, Tenoch Huerta, Martin Freeman and Angela Bassett.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Opening is currently scheduled for November 11, 2022. Stay tuned for all the latest news on the upcoming film and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
