Letitia Wright Recalls Heartbreaking Moment She Found Out About Chadwick Boseman: ‘I Lost It’

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has been a worldwide hit and moviegoers have found out that Letitia Wright’s Shuri is the new Black Panther.

After Chadwick Boseman‘s tragic death in 2020, MCU fans wondered who would take over the Black Panther mantle for the actor in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”  Marvel Studios did a good job keeping it secret, but now that the film’s in theaters, the secret’s out.  Letitia Wright‘s Shuri became the new Black Panther in Wakanda’s battle against Namor the Sub-Mariner in the sequel to Ryan Coogler‘s 2018 film.

Following up the enormous success of a box office-shattering, Academy Award-winning film with a sequel carries its own pressures and challenges, but for the team behind Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, they also had to navigate production and life after the loss of their beloved lead, their king, T’Challa, the Black Panther himself Chadwick Boseman. Director Ryan Coogler discussed moving forward in the wake of Boseman’s tragic passing in 2020. 

Finding inspiration. In Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Lupita Nyong’o plays the grieving lover of T’Challa, the character played by the late Chadwick Boseman, but in reality, the actress turned to Boseman’s widow, Simone Ledward Boseman, for inspiration.

**Spoiler Alert: This is an article for those that have already seen “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” If you have not, bookmark this page, turn around, see the movie and come back. Spoiler Alert end.** A dramatic meditation on grief, mourning, and healing, while also acting as an action-packed superhero look at how vengeance can consume us—not to mention all its geopolitical and ideological ideas of protecting one’s identities, traditions, and right to exist—Marvel’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” is in theaters now and is a lot of movie.

There’s power in hair. Black Panther‘s lead beautician Camille Friend made it her mission to create an authentic and captivating depiction of African and Black American beauty.

Honoring the king. When Chadwick Boseman died of colon cancer in August 2020, director Ryan Coogler reworked the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever script to write out the late actor’s character.

There’s no line in ‘Wakanda Forever,’ the sequel to Marvel Studios’ “Black Panther” (2018), as bruising and seething as “Bury me in the ocean with my ancestors that jumped from the ships because they knew death was better than bondage.” But emotionally, this somber ‘Black Panther’ sequel is just as visceral and lacerating and perhaps just as absolutist. And spiritually, there is great lineage to this bitter resignation about demise, pride, ancestries, the great depths below us, and the refusal to accept enslavement.

In anticipation of its release this coming week, Disney/Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever continued its promotional tour with a historic premiere in Lagos, Nigeria on Sunday evening. This was a major event — and the first time a Marvel movie has held a premiere locally — with a large group of talent, filmmakers and press on hand for the black carpet rollout. The sequel to the $1.348B grossing original pic played across multiple screens at Filmhouse Cinemas IMAX Lekki.

Remembering a legend. Two years after, Chadwick Boseman’s unexpected death, filmmaker Ryan Coogler is looking back at their final memories together.

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” hits theaters next Friday to wrap Phase 4 of the MCU. And while that’s exciting for Marvel fans, another more serious ambiance hangs over Ryan Coogler‘s sequel to his 2018 film.

has delivered head-turning fashion at the press junkets and red-carpet appearances for the film thus far—and last night’s London premiere did not disappoint. Letitia Wright, who plays Shuri in the Black Panther franchise, served a truly mesmerizing look, curated by her stylist .The Prada favorite wore a custom sleeveless column gown by the house, decorated with intricate beading that dazzled as the paparazzi cameras flashed.