Is BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER Star Letitia Wright Leaving The MCU After Refusing To Get Vaccinated?

Is BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER Star Letitia Wright Leaving The MCU After Refusing To Get Vaccinated?

Over the past couple of days, a big rumour has been doing the rounds suggesting that Letitia Wright will leave the MCU after Black Panther: Wakanda Forever due to her anti-vax views. Here's the latest...

By JoshWilding - Dec 11, 2021 06:12 AM EST

During the pandemic, Black Panther star Letitia Wright has come under fire on several occasions for some controversial opinions relating to COVID-19. As well as some suspect social media posts, we've also heard that the actress has rather vocally shared her anti-vax views on the set of Ryan Coogler's Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

That movie recently paused production to give Wright time to recover from injuries sustained on set earlier this year, and Giant Freakin Robot shared a bold claim earlier this week about her Marvel Cinematic Universe future.

According to the site, Wright being unwilling to get the vaccine means Disney's mandate for all cast and crew to have had the jab would cause problems down the line, thereby leading to her leaving the Black Panther franchise (as she wouldn't want to work for a studio requiring her to have a vaccine she doesn't want to get). It adds up, and would obviously end Shuri's story sooner than anticipated.

Well, The Hollywood Reporter has now weighed in, stating: "We did some digging and sources close to the production say Panther 2 is indeed on track to resume production in late January in Atlanta. With Wright." So, she is returning to set, but Black Panther: Wakanda Forever began production before this mandate was laid down by the House of Mouse. 

It's certainly feasible that everything is fine and Wright will continue to play Shuri, possibly becoming the MCU's new Black Panther in the process. However, it's hard not to wonder whether this break in production is to give Marvel Studios a chance to change the story and write the character out. We might not know until the movie is actually released, but it feels like something is going on here.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is set to be released on November 11, 2022.

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Bluesman
Bluesman - 12/11/2021, 6:19 AM
Jesus, this is getting old. And I'm still worried about this movie.
The1st
The1st - 12/11/2021, 8:47 AM
@Bluesman - We were reaching Ray Fisher levels before Disney took their "break" in production. Hope this inevitably blows over as I'm sure this is also not what Chadwick would have wanted.
Drace24
Drace24 - 12/11/2021, 9:27 AM
@The1st - You can tell they really try to stoke the flames without much of a fire. This article is just... nothing. Some random outlet one day just said "Hey...maybe she, like, won't return?" and even though another source straight up confirmed that there isn't really a reason to believe that, the article STILL ended with "But you have to wonder, right?" This is textbook yellow journalism.

We don't actually know anything. We don't know Wright's current opinion on vaccines or her vaccination status. She posted ONE bad video over a year ago, which she has deleted and apologized for within hours. Since then nothing. Except rumors from tabloids who just can't let this die. And now a black woman who suffers from chronic depression is being relentlessly cyberbullied. Awesome. -.-
Frshcoupe
Frshcoupe - 12/11/2021, 6:27 AM
I honestly don’t even like the idea of her becoming the new BP in this anyway lol. This movie sounds like a mess.
Spock0Clock
Spock0Clock - 12/11/2021, 6:48 AM
@Frshcoupe - On a narrative level, it's hard to know which eggs Coogler was putting in which basket, so it's hard to guess how bad this is for him.
LiteralSense
LiteralSense - 12/11/2021, 9:29 AM
@Frshcoupe - @Frshcoupe - Movie sounds like a mess which we have not heard one iota about. I have not heard any production specific issues about the film unlike Doctor Strange which the actor was very open about.

Besides the injury, nothing else stopped production of BP2 right? Or am I missing something?
MyCoolYoung
MyCoolYoung - 12/11/2021, 11:01 AM
@LiteralSense90 - @LiteralSense90 - nah. I think that's used when people don't like something i.e T'Chadwick not being recast.

We've heard nothing from this movie at all
Scarilian
Scarilian - 12/12/2021, 7:54 PM
@Frshcoupe -
Have we got any MCU movies moving forward that don't sound like a mess?
VictorAlonzo
VictorAlonzo - 12/12/2021, 8:28 PM
@LiteralSense90 - The lead died.
LSHF
LSHF - 12/11/2021, 6:28 AM
"Is BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER Star Letitia Wright Leaving The MCU After Refusing To Get Vaccinated?"

Once again, I don't know.

Can't you stop asking us questions you know we don't know the answers to, and just state something like, "There is concern that BLACK PANTHER...Vaccinated." ?

It looks like cheap journalism. I think we deserve better than that.
Origame
Origame - 12/11/2021, 6:41 AM
This is such a dumb subject to make political, on both sides. As of right now, you aren't legally required to get the vaccine. But companies are still allowed to require it for employment purposes. That has always been the case when it's come to vaccines of all kind, so it's ridiculous it's only controversial now with this vaccine.

On the other side though, it's wrong to have this be a government mandate. It should be something people choose to get, since it's their body and their health.
Canon108
Canon108 - 12/11/2021, 7:42 AM
@Origame - Their body, their health...but their freedom shouldn't come into conflict with my safety. That's the argument, we've eradicated smallpox and polio because of vaccines, it's a proven fact that they work. So you're right, it's dumb that politicians have to get involved here.
Origame
Origame - 12/11/2021, 7:47 AM
@Canon108 - yes that's what I'm saying. You have the right not to take it, but a company has the right not to allow you on their property without it, for the sake of safety.
Tpo81
Tpo81 - 12/11/2021, 9:08 AM
@Origame - although I agree about the mandate being stupid, it is the mandate & everyone is playing by the same rules. She has her belief on the matter & it’s been a major distraction for the company she works for, Which most would kill to work for. The exposure & growth potential in her line of work is gigantic if she could come down to earth with the rest of us. Nobody’s gonna applaud her if she gets fired for sticking to her guns here. It’ll hurt her career if she punts this opportunity
McMurdo
McMurdo - 12/11/2021, 9:25 AM
@Canon108 - I’m pro choice. Strictly pro abortion. But I find it truly hilarious how quickly the far left threw out the my body my choice line when it came to the vaccine. WE KNOW THIS WORKS DESPITE THE MANY REPORTS OF IT POSSIBLY NOT PREVENTING PEOPLE FROM GETTING THE NEWEST MUTATIONS BECAUSE OF THE SPIKE PROTEIN OF SAID NEW MUTATIONS, but GET IT ANYWAY.

I am not anti vax. I am double dosed. But I’ll never stand for authoritarianism and there is so [frick]ing much of it right now.
MosquitoFarmer
MosquitoFarmer - 12/11/2021, 9:33 AM
@Spock0Clock - I don’t get why trying to preserve our species is such a question for some. It’s just so ridiculous. We’re such a problematic group of animals.
GwenLantern
GwenLantern - 12/11/2021, 10:32 AM
@MosquitoFarmer - On the subject of species preservation, maybe it's not a good idea to inject every last member of our species with a largely experimental genetic modifier.
MosquitoFarmer
MosquitoFarmer - 12/11/2021, 10:38 AM
@GwenLantern - Some people have good reasons not to vaccinate. Many don't have good reasons.
SonOfAGif
SonOfAGif - 12/11/2021, 10:58 AM
@McMurdo - Im pro-freedom and definitely pro-private sector. But I find it truly hilarious how quickly the far right threw out the "It's my Freedom to choose" but "Businesses shouldn't mandate it!" Line. There is nothing illegal for a private business or company for mandating a rule. The employer has the right to terminate an employee for refusing to follow company policy. The far-right is pro find a new job if you don't like it! When it comes to employee pay but are "That's illegal! I shouldn't have to find a new job" when it comes to employer rules.
lawndart
lawndart - 12/11/2021, 11:26 AM
@Canon108 - if you feel that it protects you, then it shouldn’t matter who does and does not have it as long as you are covered, right?
lawndart
lawndart - 12/11/2021, 11:28 AM
@GwenLantern - yep, and remember “mutation” is what viruses do to survive. This is nothing new.
GwenLantern
GwenLantern - 12/11/2021, 12:34 PM
@lawndart - People seem to have conveniently forgotten this. A virus will mutate to combat anti-bodies. If these anti-bodies fail to kill the virus in any individual, then the mutated virus will be able to spread.

I noticed that the first mutation of Covid was found in Kent, England in September of 2020.
This was the exact same place and time that the vaccine was first tested on the local populace.

The rest of the mutated strains came in fast succession as the various vaccines were released globally.

But I'm sure our resident expert (MarTooth) will tell me why these are all unconnected coincidences.
nhoj3
nhoj3 - 12/12/2021, 9:57 AM
@GwenLantern - You're taking a partial understanding of evolutionary science and drawing the wrong conclusions, playing into conspiracy theories.

First, a virus doesn't "mutate as response to combat antibodies". Viruses mutate as part of their natural replication process. If a person has an effective vaccine in them, their antibodies stop (or at least greatly hinder) this replication cycle, increasing the odds that this person will not get severely ill and more importantly, increasing the odds that the virus will not produce a mutation while it's trying to replicate inside them.

If what you say about Kent, England is true (I've not fact checked it), it would still make sense from a scientific perspective. Let's call it the "Kent mutation". The Kent mutation would have formed in the one individual in Kent while Covid was running rampant through the unvaccinated, and that infected person would slowly start passing that mutation along to their contacts. Still, the Kent Mutation is in the extreme minority compared to the original strain of the virus rampaging Kent. Now you suddenly introduce a vaccine that is highly effective against the original strain, but maybe less so against the Kent Mutation. Or maybe the Kent Mutation transmits more easily. Regardless, now the vaccine suddenly tips the scales in favour of the Kent Mutation having an advantage over the original strain... give that advantage some time to play out and suddenly it becomes the dominant strain in that area. The vaccine did not CAUSE the Kent Mutation... it simply wiped out the competition to highlight its existence. If we had never used the vaccine in Kent, the Kent Mutation would still be alive, and maybe over the course of a number of years it would still become the dominant strain.

The point is, if everyone took the damn vaccines (or the boosters, or an annual shot which is tweaked against any new mutations) the virus would not have the chance to mutate.

This whole "my body, my choice" argument is garbage. Even if I'm double-vaxxed (which I am), those choosing NOT to get vaccinated are still SERIOUSLY endangering the rest of us, not because they may give me a breakthrough infection of the CURRENT strain of Covid, but instead because they are allowing themselves to be a breeding ground for the virus, and the more chances it has to breed, the higher the probability that they will give birth to a more deadly version of the virus that completely bypasses our vaccines.

Please try to understand the science before you twist it into the type of fear mongering that will kill us.
GwenLantern
GwenLantern - 12/12/2021, 2:04 PM
@nhoj3 - I strongly agree that we should all think very carefully and attempt to understand the science before endangering lives.

I'm not playing into a conspiracy theory, I'm purporting a stupidity theory. It's possible that we're being stupid. And this would endanger lives.

I'm fairly sure that mutations have a little to do with adapting to survive.
But lets go with exactly what you said. That vaccines give mutations a chance to become a dominant strain. Unless these mutations are devolved versions of the virus, rather than evolved, wouldn't we be better off letting the lesser version of the virus be the dominant strain?

I mean, in your own words you've just told me that we all need to vaccinate and that vaccinations will allow for worse viral strains to take over for the old ones. And to continue this cycle ad infinitum.

Are we really thinking?
kirklazarus87
kirklazarus87 - 12/11/2021, 6:41 AM
Ryan Coogler rewriting the scrip so they can recast T'Challa

Turtlestrong
Turtlestrong - 12/11/2021, 10:55 AM
@kirklazarus87 - He should! They should have done that from the beginning, even if it meant waiting a little longer for the sequel. Instead, they are floating some mythological level BS that Chadwick wouldn't have wanted to be replaced or that it is a terrible thing to consider because he was so iconic.

These delays feel like god's way of saying to find a new T'Challa! lol
Fares
Fares - 12/11/2021, 6:46 AM
She's free to choose how to live her life within legal rights. And the Studio is free to mandate the work policies as they see fit.

If they let her go for violating inner work policies, it's within their right, and she should accept it. They're all adults, and that's that.

That being said, if it ends up happening. What's left of the Black Panther legacy to even carry along in this sequel? I'd just pretend that nothing happened and recast both T'Challa and Shuri. Yes this is just an excuse I'm making to see T'Challa again.
Origame
Origame - 12/11/2021, 7:17 AM
@kirklazarus87 - I hate how they didn't even consider recasting.
Spock0Clock
Spock0Clock - 12/11/2021, 7:02 AM
I can understand people throwing away their careers for their principles.

But I will never understand people throwing away their careers for dumb principles. Gina Carano would rather shitpost on Twitter than a starring role in a Star Wars series. Letitia Wright would (apparently) rather be unvaccinated against a deadly disease than star in a Marvel movie.

...I just don't get it.
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