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Marvel Studios originally intended to have more than one Black Panther in the MCU at once before Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was produced.
After Chadwick Boseman’s death, Black Panther 2 acted as an emotional remembrance of him and his character T’Challa. Letitia Wright’s Shuri then assumed the role of superhero in memory of her late brother. With a few deserving candidates on the table, the topic of who will assume that role sparked discussions among fans in the run-up to the sequel’s release.
After Boseman passed away, Marvel Studios was forced to make some challenging decisions about his role and the Black Panther name, changing the majority of the storyline to centre on Shuri, Ramonda, Okoye, and M’Baku as a main quartet.
Marvel wasn’t actually restricting the primary heroes in the sequel to just one before those modifications were made, though.
Originally, Black Panther 2 included two Black Panthers.
Letitia Wright, who played Shuri in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, stated that Marvel Studios had intended to have T’Challa and Shuri serve as the Black Panther concurrently on the Empire Podcast.
Wright reflected on the experience of donning the outfit for the first time as a bittersweet one while stating that “Shuri was always going to do it.” She described how she and Boseman would have donned matching outfits and strategized how to effectively protect Wakanda together:
Empire: “I imagine there’s a lot of weight attached to that suit for many reasons. Can you talk me through your emotions putting on that suit and stepping onto set, ad what the reaction was?
Wright: “it was bittersweet. Shuri was always gonna do it. But it was gonna be done in a different way where her brother was gonna be alongside her, really explore that ,like the comoic books, the ways that T’Challa and Shuri would be Black Panther alongside each other and try to figure out how to defend their nation.”
Even though she had a hard time accepting Boseman’s death, Wright was “extremely proud” of what she had achieved and recognised the gravity of the situation:
“But unfortunately that’s not how to panned out. I knew the responsibility, I knew the weight of it, but it was just bittersweet, something I struggled with a lot. But I’m extremely proud of myself, had great support.”
She spoke especially on how Black Panther 2’s popularity came from being “the first superhero that’s a black woman in a Marvel Cinematic Universe picture,” expressing her delight in being able to pave the way for future stars as well:
“But now we’ve come to a full circle of the film being out, I’m just really proud of myself. As a black woman, being the first superhero that’s a black woman in a Marvel Cinematic Universe film to do those numbers, history’s being made as we sit here, and I’m a part of it, and that feels surreal. And that door has just been opened for another black woman to go and do that so I’m just proud, and I know my brother would be really proud of me too.”
Boseman and Wright Almost Teamed up
It seems like Letitia Wright was going to have to play a similar part regardless of what transpired in real life, despite the fact that she had to take on the challenge of playing the Black Panther on her own in this sequel. This would have provided a new level of passion and complexity to their connection as siblings as they would struggle to defend Wakanda in a post-Avengers: Endgame world. After watching the friendship grow between Shuri and T’Challa in the MCU, especially in 2018’s Black Panther.
Fans observed how close Shuri and T’Challa were throughout Black Panther 2, especially when she discovered that her secret nephew was named after her late brother in the post-credits sequence, even if this story element didn’t get the chance to be completely realised.
Now that Wright has accepted her role as Wakanda’s leader, her journey will take new turns, especially when she teams up with some other MCU big hitters in upcoming films. She is supposed to be involved in the events in 2025, therefore her abilities and Vibranium suit will undoubtedly be useful in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars.
