Many details have been coming out about the making of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” this week. Director Ryan Coogler has slowly been revealing details about the original version of the screenplay written before Chadwick Boseman‘s died—a version he was sadly too sick to read and never got the chance to do so. And recently, Coogler disclosed the full original version of the story beat for beat in a new post-mortem interview.
But there’s more. In this case, about the movie’s end that hasn’t revealed before. In a 20 Questions podcast interview with Deadline, Danai Gurira (“The Walking Dead”), who plays the Dora Milaje general Okoye in the movie, revealed a deleted scene cut from the film for time, and one that reveals so much about her character’s future going forward.
Gurira began mentioning deleted scenes that Marvel producer Nate Moore and Coogler had revealed and then shared her own. In short, at the end of the movie, Okoye is no longer part of Wakanda’s Dora Milaje security force and leaves Wakanda to wander the earth like Cain in “Kung Fu”— no, really.
“There’s another [deleted scene] of mine that’s [Okoye] saying bye to Shuri,” Gurira explained. “She catches her in Haiti unexpectedly, and Shuri says, ‘Are you going back to the Dora?’ and my character says no. And [Shuri] says, ‘Where are you going to go?’ and she says, ‘Wherever my blue suit takes me.’ And she just walks off.”
“And they have this beautiful moment, and then she just walks off,” she continued. “[Ryan Coogler] was saying it’s kind of a like that ‘Kung Fu’ show where the guy just walks the earth. She just walks off. We don’t know where Okoye is going. She’s just letting go. She was fighting to keep that position, and then she just let go. That’s kind of her arc.”
That’s a pretty major detail they omitted and fascinating to hear, given that so many of the original “Black Panther” franchise are no longer there (Boseman, Angela Bassett, and now Gurira gone from Wakanda). It also may be the reason why it was reported that Gurira’s Okoye would lead a ‘Black Panther’ spin-off series on Disney+. Perhaps it was always the intention to tell this post ‘Wakanda Forever’ story.
“We don’t know where she goes and don’t know where that leads to, and exploring where that leads is very exciting for me,” Gurira said. “The idea of what does a woman like this—who has been used to leading and carrying the most advanced nation on the planet on her shoulders, what does she do when she just lets go? Who does she become?”
“And I think that’s a cool thing for women in general,” she continued, explaining the thematic arc of the character and where the future may lie. “Black women have brought up to me that strong black woman idea like we have to be strong for everyone… what we like about [Okoye] is that we see her break, we see her on her knees, we see her not being able to carry it and being forced out of carrying it and when she finally accepts that, what opens up inside of her? And where does that take her? That’s exciting for me, for Okoye.”
READ MORE: Danai Gurira To Return As Okoye In ‘Black Panther’ Spinoff Series For Marvel
Furthermore, she confirmed a detail that some audiences felt left vague: M’Baku (played by Winston Duke) is definitely the king of Wakanda (we posited the same here). And, she made it sound like all the core women of Wakanda have left the nation, Okoye, left to wander, Nakia (played by Lupita Nyong’o), gone back to her son in Haiti, and Shuri having to at least take time away to figure out her path forward.
“In terms of the world [of these characters], Shuri is doing that too,” she explained of the character’s sabbatical, making parallels between her character and the new Black Panther. “She is not there at the end when they’re [anointing a new king]… she’s going to be the Queen, and she’s not there; it’s M’Baku. And Shuri has also chosen to take the time to become who she needs to become, and so that’s beautiful. You’re seeing these women choosing themselves, choosing to figure out their own purpose in this world.”
What does that mean for the future of Wakanda? Gurira suggests that’s something the nation has to reckon with. “And so then, the idea of what then Wakanda navigates itself to become,” she said. “It’s intriguing as to how [the nation] will navigate itself. “[These women] love their nation and will always be there for it, but it’s a beautiful dot, dot, dot…”
All that certainly does open up a lot of questions about Wakanda and who its central figures are if many of the main characters are gone. One assumes that means that certain characters will step up, Florence Kasumba as Ayo, likely being the new Dora Milaje General and potentially new leaders rising up within the nation (though presumably, Shuri does return at some point).
Lastly, for “Walking Dead” heads, Gurira says that her “Walking Dead” spin-off, centering on her character Michonne, will likely arrive before the end of 2023, so that’s something else to anticipate for this excellent actor. Will Marvel make any definitive announcements about that Okoye/Wakanda Disney+ spin-off and date the series for maybe 2024? We’ll have to wait and see. Listen to the entire podcast interview below.
