Disney and Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was unveiled at its world premiere in Hollywood, Los Angeles, on Wednesday night, 26 October, 2022.
The official review embargo for Wakanda Forever lifts 8 November, but the social media embargo for early reactions lifted after the premiere.
Written and directed by Ryan Coogler, Wakanda Forever is a sequel to the filmmaker’s 2018 movie Black Panther and is the 30th feature film entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Ryan Coogler, who returned to co-write and direct the sequel, rewrote his original premise following Boseman’s death in August 2020, noting that “the best way I got through was leaning on my collaborators.”
“Chadwick had people who were in his life creatively, as well as family, and we were in close contact with those people, very close specifically with his wife, Simone, and his creative partner Logan Coles,” Coogler — who wore a gold chain featuring Boseman’s image on the carpet — told The Hollywood Reporter of consulting the late star’s loved ones during that rewrite.
“We were staying tapped in with them as much as we could, and it gave us the space to create, but obviously we were seeking out their opinion all the time. We’re looking forward to sharing it with everybody.”
The first Black Panther movie was a global box office and cultural phenomenon, scoring $1.35 billion in ticket sales and earning an Oscar nomination for best picture.
Wakanda Forever features returning stars Lupita Nyong’o, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Danai Gurira, Florence Kasumba, Angela Bassett and Martin Freeman.
The cast came together to support each other on set, as star Danai Gurira noted that the grief particularly hit her when walking into T’Challa’s throne room, where Boseman sat in the first film.
“I hadn’t seen that throne since we had lost him, so the last time I had seen that throne he had been sitting in it,” she said.
Angela Bassett, who plays T’Challa’s mother, Queen Ramonda, had to be the one to “sit on that throne and fill it. It was very daunting, it was very important. We all held it in great reverence,” she said, while also revealing that the cast visited Boseman’s resting place before they started shooting.
“We were able to do that to give love and feel his spirit and stand there with him before we did one frame of anything,” Bassett said. “That was such an important grounding for us because, as you can imagine, emotion was all over the place. People are on the verge — his [onscreen] sister, his love, his general, all of us. I’m getting goosebumps now. We were on the verge of tears, of ‘How are we going to do this, go on without him?’”
“We did with our full hearts, our full effort and really seeking to honor our brother,” Gurira added. “We can just hope and pray that it’s received that way and that people have an experience with it as a result of that.”
The film will also be the MCU debut of newcomers Tenoch Huerta as Namor and Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams/Ironheart.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is set to hit theaters 11 November.
Another major story surrounding the film is that Rihanna will debut new music on its soundtrack, marking her first recording since 2016 with single “Lift Me Up.”
Coogler said for this film they were “looking for artists who would embody it thematically,” similar to the success he had with Kendrick Lamar on the first Black Panther. Rihanna, who will be headlining the Super Bowl Halftime Show next year, was at the top of the list.
“Rihanna, man, we knew she was at a point in her life as well where she was focusing on different things — focused on business, motherhood, which is a big theme in our film. We were holding out hope that maybe it could work out and boy did it for this song,” Coogler teased. “I can’t wait for people to hear it.”