Marvel Studios has provided a fresh look at an emotional scene that was cut from Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever.
One of Wakanda Forever’s major twists was hinted at in the post-credits stinger, which featured Shuri meeting Toussaint, T’Challa‘s son.
Off-screen, Nakia and T’Challa had a kid without the audience’s knowledge. He grew up in Haiti with his mother as opposed to Wakanda so that he might be raised far from the throne.
And the only thing the fans eventually saw in the MCU movie was this poignant sequence with Shuri.
An Emotional Deleted Scene in Detail
Fans now have their first peek at a touching sequence starring Divine Love Konadu-Toussaint, Suin’s also known as T’Challa’s kid, thanks to the publication of Assembled: The Making of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Writing for Wakanda Forever, Joe Robert Cole disclosed in a recent Rolling Stone interview that there was originally a sequence in which Queen Ramonda, played by Angela Basset, meets paths with young T’Challa.
When Ramonda goes to Haiti,” Cole mentioned that they experimented with introducing Toussaint earlier in the movie:
“… There was a point where I think when Ramonda [Angela Bassett] goes to Haiti, we had talked about potentially having him be revealed there. So we knew we wanted him to be a part of the movie in some way, and landed, I think, on the best possible version.”
These photos, along with the behind-the-scenes look below, show Ramonda travelling to Haiti to meet Nakia, where it’s likely that she’ll be as shocked by Toussaint’s existence as Shuri was at the movie’s conclusion.
It would have been an affecting scene if it had been kept, especially in light of Basset‘s stellar performance throughout the rest of the movie.
Was Cutting Little T’Challa’s Screen Time a Good Idea?
Even if having that sequence with Queen Ramonda could have been fantastic, given the context of Wakanda Forever’s final edit, it would have felt quite out of place, both in terms of tempo and in regard to the plot that was currently developing.
Multiple factors made the conclusion considerably more successful.
There was nothing else to worry about and no timer to worry about, so the emotional moment was allowed the opportunity to shine. On the sand by themselves, Shuri, Nakia, and young T’Challa.
Thematically, it also arrived just when Shuri, played by Letitia Wright, needed it to start processing and grieving in a healthy way. The woman was in a much better frame of mind when she saw her nephew as a result.
The more pressing question is when T’Challa’s son might appear next. Given his advanced age, it might take some time, but if a third Black Panther film were to be made, that would be the most logical setting.
Disney+ now has Black Panther: Wakanda Forever available for viewing.