“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. For instance, will the sequel be as successful as Ryan Coogler‘s 2018 film, which reeled in $1.3 billion at the global box office? Or how will this show set up Phase 5 content, such as the upcoming Disney+ series “Ironheart,” which centers on Dominique Thorne‘s Riri Williams/Ironheart?
A more poignant question lingers with Marvel fans, too: what was Coogler’s original idea for “Wakanda Forever” before Chadwick Boseman‘s tragic death from colon cancer in August 2020? Coogler spoke with Inverse about his initial idea for “Wakanda Forever” in a new interview. And as it turns out, grief was a big part of the original story concept, too. In the initial script, T’Challa would reckon with losing five years of his life from “The Blip” Thanos’ snap caused at the end of “Avengers: Infinity War.”
“The tone was going to be similar,” Coogler told Inverse. “The character was going to be grieving the loss of time, you know, coming back after being gone for five years. As a man with so much responsibility to so many, coming back after a forced five years absence, that’s what the film was tackling. He was grieving time he couldn’t get back. Grief was a big part of it.” Of course, that story concept had to change after Boseman’s death. “Who the protagonist was, the flaws of the protagonist, what the protagonist was dealing with in their journey, all of that stuff had to be different due to us losing him and the decisions that we made about moving forward,” Coogler continued.
So, in the wake of Boseman’s death, Coogler shifted the story focus from T’Challa grieving lost time to the nation of Wakanda mourning the loss of their leader. But what about Tenoch Huerta‘s Namor the Sub-Mariner, the leader of Talokan and primary antagonist of “Wakanda Forever”? Was he part of the original plans for the sequel, too? Yes, confirmed Coogler, Namor “as always the antagonist.” “There were other characters, for sure, that we considered including, [but] Namor was always there,” Coogler continued.
Coogler’s comments reinforce what he said on the premiere episode of “Wakanda Forever: The Official Black Panther Podcast” that he wanted to work with Namor in the MCU long before the first “Black Panther” film in 2018. So, even though Coogler needed to push through “Wakanda Forever” without Boseman, Namor was always part of his plans for the film.
But will “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” be a worthy tribute to Chadwick Boseman? Early signs point to yes, as critics loved the film at its world premiere, calling it the most emotionally resonant Marvel movie yet. Audiences may decide for themselves when the movie hits theaters next Friday on November 11.
