When Chadwick Boseman tragically passed away after a private cancer battle in 2020, fans wondered if and how Marvel Studios would incorporate his character, T'Challa's, death into the planned Black Panther sequel. There was a lot of speculation relating to how Wakanda's protector would be killed off, with many assuming that he'd go out in a blaze of glory in battle.
As it turns out, Wakanda Forever ended up addressing T'Challa's demise in the opening scene, as Shuri raced against time in a futile attempt to save her beloved brother from a mysterious illness.
It was a respectful, impactful way to take the fan-favorite hero off the board, but some did feel the character was deserving of a more heroic send-off.
While speaking to The New York Times, director Ryan Coogler explained why he felt it was so important for T'Challa's death to be something that was completely out of everyone's hands - especially his sister's.
"Just practically, everyone was going to be waiting to see how we dealt with it, so doing it right up front made sense. In terms of the characters, we needed to introduce a different version of Shuri. We’re showing the moment that she becomes a different person than the person we met. She’s the smartest person in the world, but she can’t save her brother. What does that do to you?"
Coogler also pointed out that, had T'Challa been killed in battle, Shuri would have had somewhere to "displace her anger."
"If somebody else would’ve taken T’Challa out, Shuri would’ve looked for that person. We wanted it to be a situation where the only place to go was internal."
Shuri's grief and inability to forgive herself for failing to save T'Challa is a major part of her arc in the movie, ultimately taking her down a pretty dark path before giving her the inner strength to spare Namor's life and forge an alliance with Talokan.
How do you guys feel T'Challa's death was handled? Would you have preferred if he'd fallen in battle? Drop us a comment down below.