Black Panther: Wakanda Forever's Original Chadwick Boseman Plans Explained By Director

When Chadwick Boseman died from colon cancer in August 2020, the world lost one of its most talented and gracious performers just as he was beginning to show us just how great he could be. Boseman only scraped the surface of his remarkable abilities, and it's utterly heartbreaking that we'll never see how he would grow and challenge himself.

Because Boseman was very private about his illness (as was his right), Ryan Coogler and Marvel Studios had to completely overhaul their plans for their "Black Panther" sequel. Coogler had written a screenplay that, obviously, centered on T'Challa; now, they would either have to recast the part or rewrite the script to acknowledge the character's passing and turn another character into the new Black Panther. They chose the latter option, which, judging by the A Cinemascore given to "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," satisfied moviegoers.

Still, it's only natural to wonder what Coogler had planned prior to Boseman's untimely death. Appearing on Josh Horowitz's "Happy Sad Confused" podcast, Coogler, who's making the press rounds for "Sinners" again now that awards voting season is underway, shared his concept for the Boseman-led "Black Panther" sequel, and it sounds incredible. His 180-page draft found T'Challa engaging in a bonding experience with his son, the prince. Per Coogler:

"The big thing about the script was this thing called the 'Ritual of Eight,' where when a prince is eight years old, he has to go spend eight days in the bush with his father, and [...] amongst those eight days, they have to go into the bush without any tools. The prince has to listen to everything that's asked of him by his father. But the rule is that for those eight days, the prince can ask the father any question, and the father has to answer."

This ritual is challenged when Namor (Tenoch Huerta Mejía in "Wakanda Forever") goes on the attack. Coogler continued:

"He had to deal with somebody who was, like, insanely dangerous, but because of this ritual, his son had to be, like, joined at his hip the whole time. He was engaging in negotiations, fights, and his son had to be right there, or he'd have to violate this ritual, which had never been broken. That was what the movie was."

While it's a tragedy that Boseman was never able to bring T'Challa's next chapter to life, Coogler is pleased with how the reconceived version turned out. "I got a chance to make a movie about women," he explained. "I love that movie so much." Coogler, as he's proven throughout the year, where he's had to give countless interviews in support of the brilliant "Sinners" (/Film's number one movie of 2025), is a total class act.

The future of "Black Panther" was up in the air for a moment, but it was finally confirmed this year that "Black Panther 3" is in active development and will be Coogler's next movie. Even more exciting, Coogler has apparently secured the services of Denzel Washington, who is arguably the greatest actor on the planet. Adding him to an already killer ensemble makes this a far more exciting project than either of the upcoming "Avengers" movies. It's just a bummer we have to wait until 2028 (at the earliest, it would seem) to see it.