BLACK PANTHER Screenwriter Weighs In On Rumored Deleted Scene Featuring Gay Romance

BLACK PANTHER Screenwriter Weighs In On Rumored Deleted Scene Featuring Gay Romance

Black Panther co-writer Joe Robert Cole has weighed in on reports that the movie will feature a romance between two members of the Dora Milaje and his comments may generate controversy. Read on for more.

By JoshWilding - Feb 13, 2018 02:02 AM EST
Filed Under: Black Panther
Source: Screencrush
Black Panther is being praised for being incredibly diverse and critics have also made a point of highlighting the fact that it does a great job of portraying female characters. Last year, Vanity Fair reporter Joanna Robinson saw an early cut of the movie and mentioned a scene between Okoye and Ayo in which it was hinted that the two members of the Dora Milaje were romantically involved.

That's reportedly been cut from the movie and it's generated controversy among the LGBTQ community. Now, Black Panther screenwriter Joe Robert Cole has been asked to weigh in on that. 

"I know that there were quite a few conversations around different things, different directions with different characters, and characters that we may have," he vaguely replied in regards to that nod about the LGBTQ nature of some of the members in T'Challa's group of female bodyguards. "We thought, ‘Well, maybe we’ll work it this way with an arc or work it that way with an arc.’"

"The scene you’re talking about, I don’t remember," he added. "I can’t remember the exact exchange you’re talking about, but I think it was really brief. I’m not sure. I know that it was not – there wasn’t some major theme through that we were looking to explore with that in terms of the story. We didn’t like, pull out a full thread of some theme. But your friend quite possibly could be right, or I’m maybe having a brain fart here and just can’t remember." The question is, do we believe him? 

It's hard to say but a lot of fans will inevitably be disappointed that this plot point has been cut from Black Panther. What do you guys think? As always, be sure to let us know your thoughts down below.
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ChangAlang
ChangAlang - 2/13/2018, 2:19 AM
If it flows for the overall story then cool. But I don’t feel the need to add extra content because they feel they have an obligation to anyone.

I have to say MBJ is looking goood😉
NegativeNerd
NegativeNerd - 2/13/2018, 6:07 AM
@ChangAlang - Yes, I am thinking of adding MBJ to my collection of baes.
Doomsday8888
Doomsday8888 - 2/13/2018, 2:34 AM
Less than 12 hours for me!!!




Yeeaaah boiiii
knocturnalzen10
knocturnalzen10 - 2/13/2018, 4:15 AM
@Doomsday8888 - Leo was getting it tho
TheBeard
TheBeard - 2/13/2018, 6:21 AM
@Doomsday8888 - lucky
Darkseid85
Darkseid85 - 2/13/2018, 2:34 AM
Agreed with the majority. Not necessary. Personally do not care who gets upset about it being removed from the film. Hope it is not there. With this being a lead in to Infinity War, there is not a place for anything like that in any way. I read this was a film with a serious undertone. Hopefully so.
Kumkani
Kumkani - 2/13/2018, 2:45 AM
I never heard of such a deleted scene.

All I remember was that when some members of the press visited the set of Black Panther last year while they were shooting dailies, one of them reported an exchange between Okoye (Danai Gurira) and Ayo (Florence Kasumba) in which Ayo says to Okoye "You look good," and Okoye replied with "I know" and they both laughed.

Then either one website or many ran with it as a hint that there was going to be a romance between the two women, as Ayo is a lesbian in the most recent Black Panther comics written by Ta-Nehisi Coates (and this run is just plain terrible in my opinion, and not because of the lesbian thing), though Okoye has never been shown as gay either.

Later on, Variety or The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that there would be no romance between the two and they were just friends. That got some special people on Twitter upset and I remember seeing one of them try to start a boycott (lol).

Now I don't know if that exchange was deleted from the movie and no one who has seen it has hinted at that so it's safe to say this is quite pointless. I really hope Ryan doesn't touch any of Coates stories for a long time because they are just terrible for the mythos and as much as I hate saying this, they feel like a forced agenda.
BiggerLuke
BiggerLuke - 2/13/2018, 2:55 AM
@BlindWedjat - You expect Wilding to do research?
LarryDee
LarryDee - 2/13/2018, 4:20 AM
@BlindWedjat - Plus, minus spoiler from the movie: Okoye is engaged with W'Kabi. So the all thing doesn't really makes sense.
NegativeNerd
NegativeNerd - 2/13/2018, 6:12 AM
@BlindWedjat - Right? I mean god forbid if a person tells another person of the same gender that they look good. I’m all about LGBTQ representation on screen, but there needs to be a much better way of showing that.

I know Ayo is a lesbian, and I think that should remain with her. However, pairing her with Okeye makes no sense, especially considering Okeye’s already established relationship in the film.
Leomessi10
Leomessi10 - 2/13/2018, 6:23 AM
@NegativeNerd - Okoye is T’Challa’s former flame right??
Franshu
Franshu - 2/13/2018, 9:19 AM
@BlindWedjat -
NegativeNerd
NegativeNerd - 2/13/2018, 7:41 PM
@Leomessi10 - Hmmm I could be wrong, but no I don’t think they ever had any romance (unless you count the “wives in training” stuff). Nakia was definitely one though.
Scarilian
Scarilian - 2/13/2018, 3:07 AM
It's the same sort of people who are petitioning for a female James Bond. These sorts of people do not care about the franchise or whether it would actually make sense from a story perspective/quality of final product/affect on the fanbase/etc...

They just want to change and alter things to represent what they desire and once they do so, they just move to the next franchise.
GhostDog
GhostDog - 2/13/2018, 4:06 AM
I honestly don't even remember this being a deleted scene
Vocloz
Vocloz - 2/13/2018, 4:46 AM
Y'all stupid as shit talking about "unnecessary" re
presentation and how it's just being "shoved in there" like, we get it, you're homophobic. But please shut up and let the lgbt community enjoy what little on screen representation they can get, and fight for the potential of more. Won't ruin your movie going experience if two girls kiss before they go to battle, it's basically y'all porn history anyways jeez
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