**Spoilers below for “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” You’ve been warned…**
Though it’s unlikely Letitia Wright will get any major awards nominations for her performance in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” it isn’t for lack of quality and effort. The young actress clearly puts every bit of herself into her role as Shuri, the new Black Panther and protector of Wakanda. But for how emotional the entire film is for Wright, as she and the cast/crew had to move on from the passing of Chadwick Boseman, there was one scene in particular that really hit hard for the actress.
In a discussion with John Boyega (via Variety), Letitia Wright talked about working on “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” and she opened up about the emotional mid-credits scene that introduced T’Challa’s young son, Toussaint. The moment comes as a complete surprise for fans of the franchise and acts as an emotional climax for Wright’s character, as she comes to accept the passing of her brother and the hope the young boy represents for the future. According to Wright, the genesis of the surprise reveal comes from an earlier version of the film, before Boseman’s passing, which would have focused on the relationships between fathers and sons.
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“That post-credit scene for me is another extension of the ways in which we wanted to honor Chadwick — especially the role of T’Challa,” explained Wright. “In the movie that Chadwick was written into before he passed, there is a journey of a father and son. When reading it, I could sense we had to find a way to continue the legacy of what T’Challa means to the world, especially to young Black men. That scene messed me up.”
There is a lot of ambiguity concerning the scene which introduces Toussaint. Sure, on the one hand, it could just be a sweet introduction to a character who represents the legacy of T’Challa. However, there’s also the multiversal/Marvel-y side of things, which may or may not lead to Shuri getting replaced by T’Challa’s son as the eventual next Black Panther.
Regardless of how the franchise evolves in the future, the scene in ‘Wakanda Forever’ does a great job of just ending the film on a hopeful note and allowing for Shuri (and, by extension, Wright) to exorcise some of that emotional baggage.
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” is in theaters now.