Black Panther: Wakanda Forever finally hits cinemas this weekend and, while fans have been eagerly awaiting the Marvel sequel, many are aware that the viewing experience will different this time around.
Chadwick Boseman, who portrayed the superhero in the first instalment in 2018, died aged 43 in August 2020, following a four-year battle with colon cancer, leaving fans and his castmates devastated.
His co-star Lupita Nyong’o, who reprises her role as Nakia in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, was among the grief-stricken cast, and shared in a new interview, how they confronted their huge loss prior to filming the sequel.
Nyong’o, 39, revealed in a cover story for Ebony, that her co-stars visited Boseman’s grave in a sad, yet soothing, moment of healing.
The actress said: “We visited his resting place before we started filming and we had that moment as a cast.
“We went with the new cast who hadn’t met him as well. It was our way of continuing this journey.”
Nyong’o added: “It really doesn’t feel like we have anything to prove to his spirit. I feel very, very centered about how we brought him along with us.
“(Director) Ryan (Coogler) had an artist make this necklace that has Chadwick’s image on it and he wore it every day. So he’s been with us, he knows what we did.”
Co-star Danai Gurira, who is returning as Okoye in Wakanda Forever, spoke of how the cast’s grief over Boseman took a toll on them as they began production.
Gurira, 44, shared: “There’s a grief navigation that we were going through as we were stepping back into living in this world without our leader, our King and our brother. That was a really specific journey to take in it.”
British actress Letitia Wright, who portrays Shuri, said: “I knew that he was in a better place, but I selfishly wanted him to still be here… with us, with me.
“But for myself, I use the film as a love letter to Chad. Every scene, every word I utter is with fullness and with life as he would want me to live it, you know, as he did live.”
Wright, 29, added: “It was hard. But we all used the time to grieve together and support each other. We used the time to fuel the story with our energy, with our love and with the power that was within us because it had to go somewhere, you know?”
