Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Marvel Studios

Walt Disney Studios

Description

In Marvel Studios’ “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Queen Ramonda, Shuri, M’Baku, Okoye and the Dora Milaje fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T’Challa’s death. When Namor, king of a hidden undersea nation, alerts them to a global threat and his disturbing plan to thwart it, the Wakandans band together with the help of War Dog Nakia and Everett Ross and forge a new path for the kingdom of Wakanda.

Release date

November 11, 2022

Directed by

Ryan Coogler

Written by

Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole

Based on

Black Panther by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby

Produced by

Kevin Feige and Nate Moore

Starring

Letitia Wright as Shuri

Lupita Nyong'o as Nakia

Danai Gurira as Okoye

Winston Duke as M'Baku

Florence Kasumba as Ayo

Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams / Ironheart

Michaela Coel as Aneka

Tenoch Huerta as Namor

Martin Freeman as Everett K. Ross

Angela Bassett as Ramonda

Isaach de Bankolé

Dorothy Steel

Danny Sapani 

Mabel Cadena as Namora 

Alex Livinalli as Attuma

Cinematography

Autumn Durald

Music by

Ludwig Göransson

Director Ryan Coogler discusses Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

“We were really excited to explore the relationship between Ramonda and Shuri. The first film has a lot of father-son dynamics—both the protagonist and antagonist had to deal with moving on after his father passed away. This film very much became a story with motherhood as a motif. So often moms have to continue to mother through difficult situations.”

“Chad’s passing affected filmmakers and the actors in a way that was incredibly profound. Chad was very much our artistic partner in this project, in this franchise and in this storytelling. I would spend time with him, just he and I, talking about where we wanted to see the character go, where we wanted to see the story go, how much he admired the other characters and the actors that portrayed them.  We realized that it would only be right for us to continue the story.”

Nate Moore discusses Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

“For the story of Wakanda to move forward in a world where T'Challa is now no longer with us, it only made sense to investigate what that loss meant for all of the people that he touched and there's no one who's going to feel that effect more than his little sister, Shuri.”

“I think audiences can expect this movie to celebrate both the legacy of the character of T'Challa and that of Wakanda as it continues to move forward. It's going to introduce new characters that you’ve never seen before and be the building blocks for the next phase of the MCU.”

Letitia Wright discusses Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

“There is a quote that one of my directors Steve McQueen used.  He said sometimes life imitates art and art imitates life. In ‘Black Panther,’ Shuri is so bold in her choices about science and technology and creation. There’s a space for her to just be amazing, to make mistakes. And she has her brother and her family. She has this lack of limitation.  There are no ceilings, and her brother trusts her to create his whole armor. So, we see this young woman in her element, in her light. Then, she is transformed through this experience of loss and change. It was that moment that it hit me—when I read the script, art was imitating life. Shuri has to process grief unexpectedly. It really is a 180. It’s hard to find light. It’s hard to find peace. It’s hard to wake up and say, ‘I’m going to go create today.’ Who is she creating for?” 

“The challenge that I faced for myself was just processing how I was going to allow this character to evolve. It was a challenge giving her everything that she needs. In the first film, it was really clear that her mission was to create and invent new technology. She was that person that lifted the room. It was a challenge to know that, with what Shuri’s going through right now, I wouldn’t be able to do that.”

Lupita Nyong’o discusses Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

“In the first film, we meet Nakia, and she is this lone wolf.  She’s very idealistic and independent and tenacious about sticking to her beliefs. She also has this incredible love relationship with T’Challa.

“All these years later, after the blip and ‘Avengers: Endgame’ and the loss of T’Challa, we find a Nakia who has definitely matured. I think compromise is a word that she entertains more, albeit still holding very strong, idealistic views. She has grown into a nurturing spirit, and I think there’s something more organic and mellow about Nakia now.”

Danai Gurira discusses Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

“It was very exciting the way that [director Ryan Coogler] envisioned her and the idea of her being a general, the idea of the Dora Milaje as a whole, and then her specific type of energy. It just became really great to explore her with him. I really was very interested in her unexpected aspects like her humor, her cheekiness. I thought that this is a woman who really enjoys her life, and she loves being a Wakandan more than anything and believes that Wakandans are all types of the bomb.

“Her traditionalism was definitely something that helped me anchor her because her connection to her country was so, so passionate and also so militaristic.  The loyalty and the readiness to do whatever for her nation’s well-being, for her people’s well-being, was something that I found very organic to connect to because I grew up on the continent. I grew up in a country that had recently come out of colonization when I moved there. I understood how special a nation like Wakanda existing was—a nation that left you with that question: Who would we have been as a continent had we never been colonized?  Then they have this MCU version of an answer to that. So, to me, I felt very passionately that this is a character who, alongside and under the king and then the queen, is safeguarding that sacred place. That connection for me was just so instant and easy to find. We really set her up for what happens in this next movie’s story because of how connected she is to that sacred vow she’s made to this nation.”

Winston Duke discusses Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

“He did not disappear as a result of the snap, so he was there as the country had to deal with that loss. He was involved in the battles of ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ and ‘Avengers: Endgame,’ and he is transformed. He had to go through all of it, and he was essentially one of the pillars of Wakanda during that time. So, he has seen the consequences of opening the borders, the consequences of a brand-new world. He is now a full-fledged member of Wakandan society. He’s a part of the tribal council so he has a lot more responsibility and we’ll see that play out in this film.

“I look at M’Baku as a stress test to see if things belong.  M’Baku puts pressure on things to make sure that they are deserving and can withstand the changes that will come in Wakanda. He pressures everything. He pressures everyone.   Sometimes, it’s with humor. Sometimes, it’s antagonistic. But at the end of the day, he wants the best for Wakanda, and I think that’s a deeply honorable, powerful thing. He doesn’t mind making enemies if it means protecting his people.”

Angela Bassett discusses Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

“It's been a year since the passing of her son, of Shuri’s brother. And to Ramonda, tradition is important. Grieving, recognizing that grief, going through the various stages of it, that's something that this mother understands, that this queen understands, with her husband and her son passing. She’s a woman of faith. Shuri's a young woman of science. So, the respect for that, the recognition of that, the embracing of that is not in her wheelhouse. But a mother knows. A mother can see.”

“It was an offer that couldn’t be refused. It was an opportunity to see women who look like me in their resplendent glory. And those opportunities were few and far in between. So, I'm just so grateful and blessed that it happened during my time and that Ryan [Coogler] and whomever the powers that be thought that I could bring her to bear, bring her to light. I've come to just love and admire and revere the character. It’s almost as if I'm on the outside looking in, looking at her as an audience member, as a woman of color, as a little girl that fell in love with cinema and characters and who they represent and how they can inspire on screen.”

Dominique Thorne discusses Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

“She has finessed her way through as a traditional student in a way that she can stay personally interested and engaged, which has taken the form of hustling rich kids from their money in exchange for completing their homework assignments.”