Black Panther 2 Director Recalls Reaction To Star’s Severe On-Set Injury

Director Ryan Coogler recalls his reaction to learning of Letitia Wright’s severe on-set injury while filming Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever director Ryan Coogler shares his reaction to learning of Letitia Wright's severe on-set injury. After the huge success of 2018's Black Panther, Coogler returns to helm the highly-anticipated MCU sequel, which follows the nation of Wakanda as it mourns the loss of King T'Challa while dealing with the emergence of a powerful new threat on the world stage. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever not only pushes forward in the wake of Chadwick Boseman's tragic death in 2020, but production was also affected by Wright's injury in the summer of last year. While the occurrence was at first minimized, it was subsequently uncovered that Wright experienced a broke shoulder and a blackout while recording a scene including a bike rig.

In a recent interview with Variety, director Ryan Coogler reveals his initial emotional reaction to learning of Wright's Black Panther: Wakanda Forever set injuries. The incident occurred during a second unit shoot in Boston while Coogler and the main unit were back in Atlanta, with the chief reviewing exactly the amount of a blow it was getting the call that Wright had been harmed. Look at Coogler's full remark beneath:

“It was about how you can imagine. I mean, I love these actors. That’s me and Chad’s little sister. Imagine getting that call that your little sister’s hurt. It’s the f---ing worst thing in the world.”

Shuri's MCU Future After Black Panther 2 Explained

One of the central questions many fans had when it was announced that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever would still move forward after Boseman's passing was who would take up the mantle of the titular hero. Shuri eventually becomes the Wakandan hero in the Marvel Comics, but initial marketing for the film kept the identity of the new Black Panther very mysterious. More recent trailers and promotional materials, however, have featured more obvious hints that Shuri is indeed the new Black Panther (including showing the hero with Shuri's distinctive gauntlets) opening up a number of exciting possibilities for the character in the MCU moving forward.

While it is not yet clear how Black Panther: Wakanda Everlastingly will make way for the eventual fate of the MCU, quite a bit of Stage 5 and Stage 6 have proactively been spread out. While it's unclear what role Shuri could play as the new Black Panther in Phase 5 beyond perhaps a quick appearance in a post-credits scene, the confirmation that Phase 6 will feature two new Avengers movies sheds some light on what the character could get up to. T'Challa's Black Panther was featured in both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame and it's likely that Shuri, if she is indeed his successor, will play an important role in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars.

Past the two new Avengers  films, a Black Panther: Wakanda Everlastingly side project show zeroing in on Danai Gurira's Okoye is purportedly being developed, which could highlight an appearance from Shuri. The MCU's future after Avengers: Secret Wars remains largely up in the air at this point, but it's likely that Black Panther 3 will eventually get the green light, providing an opportunity to explore Shuri as a more experienced Black Panther, perhaps dealing with the fallout from the events of Phase 6. While many questions remain about Shuri's future in the MCU, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will surely be setting the stage for important events to come, with Wright's character almost guaranteed to play a central role.