Ryan Coogler Says Chadwick Boseman Passed Away Before Reading The Completed Original ‘Wakanda Forever’ Script

Honoring the king. When Chadwick Boseman died of colon cancer in August 2020, director Ryan Coogler reworked the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever script to write out the late actor’s character.

Carrying his legacy. After Chadwick Boseman‘s 2020 death, Black Panther director Ryan Coogler decided that his Marvel character would also die and a new Black Panther would be born in Wakanda Forever. (WARNING: Spoilers ahead.)

When Black Panther director Ryan Coogler returned to direct the highly-anticipated sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, he left with a skill he didn't have before: he learned how to swim.The sequel introduces the iconic Marvel Comics character Namor the Sub-Mariner - who made his comics debut nearly a century ago in 1939, played by Tenoch Huerta.Since a large portion of the movie takes place underwater, the 36-year-old Oakland native filmmaker revealed he had to learn how to swim for the movie. Skill: When Black Panther director Ryan Coogler returned to direct the highly-anticipated sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, he left with a skill he didn't have before: he learned how to swim Namor: The sequel introduces the iconic Marvel Comics character Namor the Sub-Mariner - who made his comics debut nearly a century ago in 1939, played by Tenoch Huerta'A lot of us were raised to have fear of water,' Coogler began, adding, 'I had to figure out how to swim so I could direct this movie.'Namor is the ruler of an underwater kingdom known as Talokan, and he and the newly-discovered kingdom become a new threat to the fictional African nation of Wakanda in the sequel.

Disney/Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever got out to a $10.1M start in  17 international box office markets on Wednesday. This is ahead of continued offshore rollout through Friday and the sequel’s domestic debut on Friday (domestic previews start Thursday). 

Letitia Wright has revealed she is still in therapy following a traumatic accident on the set of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in August 2021.The actress, 29, suffered a concussion and a shoulder fracture after falling off a 'biscuit rig' while riding a motorcycle in Boston, causing production to temporarily shut down -  with the star reflecting on the harrowing incident to Variety. Letitia, who plays Shuri in the film, said: 'I’m still processing it. I’m still working through it in therapy.

Angela Bassett looked regal in a cover shoot for Variety that was published Wednesday, as the actress continues to promote her upcoming Marvel film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.The 64-year-old struck a powerful pose in an all-white ensemble alongside director Ryan Coogler and co-star Letitia Wright.  The interview came as Bassett has been garnering Oscar buzz for her portrayal of Queen Ramonda in the film.During her chat, the star said she has been going through 'cycles of grief' ever since her Black Panther co-star Chadwick Boseman died in 2020.  The queen: Angela Bassett looked regal in a cover shoot for Variety that was published Wednesday, as the actress continues to promote her upcoming Marvel film Black Panther: Wakanda ForeverThe 9-1-1 star donned a stylish white blouse with a deep neckline. She added a pair of trim white slacks to the outfit. Bassett's curly hair puffed out on the sides and stopped just short of touching her shoulders.  During the Variety interview, the trio discussed the biggest change to the second film – Boseman's death. The late-star's cancer diagnosis wasn't known to people outside of a small group of family members, so his death came as a shock to his colleagues.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has already sold more than $45 million in advance domestic sales, ahead of its opening Friday in around 4,300 domestic cinemas.Sources confirmed the totals from the Marvel Studios film to The Hollywood Reporter, as Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Chapek noted the strong start in a company’s earnings call on Tuesday.He said director Ryan Coogler 'has delivered another culture-defining film' as 'evidenced by advance ticket sales.' The latest: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, starring Angela Bassett and Letitia Wright, has already sold more than $45 million in advance domestic sales, ahead of its opening Friday in around 4,300 domestic cinemasThe film Wednesday was slated to commence with its international rollout ahead of a mass opening (except for China and Russia), with domestic projections of around a minimum of $175 million, and between $155 million to $195 million in international box office totals.The film's $45 million in domestic presales - which could swell to up to $65 million by Friday - were less than Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, but more than Thor: Love and Thunder, Disney sources told the outlet.

While it’s unclear whether or not Ryan Coogler is going to return to direct another “Black Panther” film after the release of ‘Wakanda Forever,’ it has long been known the filmmaker is working alongside Marvel Studios to develop spinoffs for Disney+. Originally, it was revealed that the spinoff would be focused on the Dora Milaje, led by Danai Gurira’s Okoye.

We are just a couple of days away from the long-awaited release of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” and believe me, it’s going to be an absolutely massive film at the box office and fans are going to lose their minds (in a good way, obviously) when they see what Ryan Coogler and Co. have done with the story.

BAFTA has set Black Panther director Ryan Coogler to deliver this year’s prestigious David Lean Lecture.

Despite the presence of New Line’s Black Adam and Universal’s franchise title Halloween Ends at the October box office, the drought we’ve been weathering since the second frame of August with U.S./Canada weekend ticket sales averaging $58M has been stinging to say the least.

There’s no line in ‘Wakanda Forever,’ the sequel to Marvel Studios’ “Black Panther” (2018), as bruising and seething as “Bury me in the ocean with my ancestors that jumped from the ships because they knew death was better than bondage.” But emotionally, this somber ‘Black Panther’ sequel is just as visceral and lacerating and perhaps just as absolutist. And spiritually, there is great lineage to this bitter resignation about demise, pride, ancestries, the great depths below us, and the refusal to accept enslavement.

The 2018 blockbuster Black Panther marked several milestones for Marvel and the whole MCU in ways they would be hard to follow, not least being its wide-ranging cultural impact, its groundbreaking and game-changing opening for Black filmmakers in front of and behind the camera, its imprint on social issues and certainly the fact that it became the first so-called comic book movie adaptation ever to be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. That is some legacy, and add its three quarters of a billion dollar worldwide gross and you have an obvious candidate for a blockbuster sequel. However the tragic, completely unexpected death of its star, Chadwick Boseman at just age 43, and the whole idea of carrying the story forward without its key driving on screen force of King T’Challa would be a tall order for anyone. Fortunately for us it is one that has been largely met with dignity, grief over unthinkable loss, and a determination to do the right thing by director Ryan Coogler.

With the highly-anticipated Black Panther: Wakanda Forever hitting theaters this weekend, Lupita Nyong'o revealed the cast honored their late co-star Chadwick Boseman before filming began.Nyong'o, 39, who reprises her role as Nakia from the 2018 blockbuster Black Panther, was part of a cover story on the sequel for Ebony.The actress revealed that, before filming began on the sequel, the entire cast visited the grave of Chadwick Boseman. Honored: With the highly-anticipated Black Panther: Wakanda Forever hitting theaters this weekend, Lupita Nyong'o revealed the cast honored their late co-star Chadwick Boseman before filming began Grave: With the highly-anticipated Black Panther: Wakanda Forever hitting theaters this weekend, Lupita Nyong'o revealed the cast honored their late co-star Chadwick Boseman before filming beganBoseman was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2016, though he kept the diagnosis private apart from his inner circle.He passed away after a four-year battle with cancer in 2020, with the cancer progressing from Stage III at diagnosis to Stage IV closer to his death.

In anticipation of its release this coming week, Disney/Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever continued its promotional tour with a historic premiere in Lagos, Nigeria on Sunday evening. This was a major event — and the first time a Marvel movie has held a premiere locally — with a large group of talent, filmmakers and press on hand for the black carpet rollout. The sequel to the $1.348B grossing original pic played across multiple screens at Filmhouse Cinemas IMAX Lekki.

Black Panther director Ryan Coogler sat down with Ta-Nehisi Coates on Thursday to discuss the making of his new film two years after his lead actor and friend Chadwick Boseman passed away.In the premiere 30-minute episode of the Wakanda Forever: Official Black Panther podcast, which dropped last week, the 36-year-old director recalled his final conversation with Boseman.A few weeks after Coogler had finished writing the script for the sequel, he spoke to Chadwick for the last time. Remembering his final days: Black Panther director Ryan Coogler sat down with Ta-Nehisi Coates on Thursday to discuss the making of his new film two years after his lead actor and friend Chadwick Boseman passed away - Coogler and Boseman pictured on February 8, 2018 in London, England at the European Premiere of Black Panther'My last conversation with him was calling to ask if he wanted to read it before I got notes from the studio,' said Coogler.Coogler remembered that Chadwick seemed 'tired' during their phone conversation and said he did not feel like reading the script.

Remembering a legend. Two years after, Chadwick Boseman’s unexpected death, filmmaker Ryan Coogler is looking back at their final memories together.

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” hits theaters next weekend to wrap up Phase 4 of the MCU, and Marvel fans have lots of questions in the lead-up to the film’s release.

Marvel’s first mutant, Namor, is finally making his live-action debut in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” next week. Played by Mexican actor Tenoch Huerta, Namor’s inclusion comes after a long journey that includes failed attempts by Universal Pictures to make a solo film back in the 2000s before the character could join the Marvel Cinematic Universe.