Marvel Studios' Assembled: The Making of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is now streaming on Disney+, and the BTS special reveals some interesting new info about Riri Williams actress Dominique Thorne.
It seems that, prior to making her MCU debut as the teen genius in Ryan Coogler's sequel, Thorne actually auditioned for the role of Shuri in the first movie before Letitia Wright landed the part.
In the test footage below, Thorne can be seen acting out a scene alongside the late Chadwick Boseman (T'Challa).
Thorne has previously revealed that Marvel Studios contacted her to offer her the Ironheart role, and we now know why. Producer Nate Moore says that when it came time to introduce Riri Williams to the MCU, “she [Dominique Thorne] was the first and only call” due to her Shuri screen test.
Thorne will reprise the role for the Disney+ Ironheart series, and recently shared the advice Tony Stark actor Robert Downey Jr. gave her about following in Iron Man's footsteps.
"He had some beautiful words to say about how much he believes that Riri Williams is and should always be her own person, her own thing. That this legacy is headed in the right direction and all the beautiful encouraging things that you hope to hear from the Iron Man himself.”
Though the Black Panther sequel never even mentions Stark (there is a reference to Riri building an Iron Man suit), director Ryan Coogler did suggest that there is come kind of connection between the characters in a recent interview, so perhaps we'll learn more about their "complicated" relationship in Ironheart.