When it was announced that Marvel Studios planned to move forward with a Black Panther sequel after the tragic passing of star Chadwick Boseman, Kevin Feige and director Ryan Coogler were faced with another difficult decision: do they recast T'Challa, or recalibrate the script to focus on the fallout of the character's death?
As we know, they went with the second option, and while the decision did prove to be divisive, after seeing how respectfully Wakanda Forever handles T'Challa's death and its elegiac tribute to the man who played him, it's hard to imagine the story benefiting from another actor stepping into the role.
Major spoilers from this point on!
The movie opens with Shuri (Letitia Wright) desperately attempting to replicate the properties of the heart-shaped herb that gave the Black Panther his enhanced abilities before Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) destroyed the entire garden in the first film. We quickly learn that she's racing against the clock as her beloved brother succumbs to an unnamed illness offscreen.
She is unable to reproduce the herb, and Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett) arrives to inform her daughter that she would have been too late, anyway: The King is dead. Shuri is understandably devastated, and the guilt she feels for not being able to do more to save her brother prevents her from accepting his fate.
This scene is followed by a silent Marvel Studios logo intro spotlighting clips of Boseman's MCU appearances.
There are several ways T'Challa's exit could have been handled (early rumors claimed the character would fall in battle), but this felt like the most considerate and emotionally impactful route to take.
Have you guys been to see Black Panther: Wakanda Forever yet? If so, what did you make of this opening sequence? Be sure to drop us a comment down below (you can check out our review here).
In Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Shuri (Letitia Wright), M’Baku (Winston Duke), Okoye (Danai Gurira), and the Dora Milaje (including Florence Kasumba), fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers 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 forge a new path for the kingdom of Wakanda. Introducing Tenoch Huerta as Namor, king of a hidden undersea nation, the film also stars Dominique Thorne, Michaela Coel, Mabel Cadena, and Alex Livanalli.