Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Star Letitia Wright Injured On Set While Filming Stunt
According to a report from Deadline, actress Letitia Wright ("Small Axe," "Black Panther") has been hospitalized with "minor" injuries during a stunt gone wrong while filming "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," the highly anticipated sequel to Marvel Studios' 2018 juggernaut blockbuster. The injuries were sustained during an accident with a stunt rig, and a Marvel spokesperson issued the following statement regarding Wright's condition:
"Letitia Wright sustained minor injuries today while filming a stunt for "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever." She is currently receiving care in a local hospital and is expected to be released soon."
Wakanda Forever
It's difficult to know how much this incident is being downplayed – if the injuries were really that minor, would she have been hospitalized in the first place? – but thankfully, there have been very few injuries overall in Marvel Cinematic Universe productions thus far (that we know about, anyway). Anthony Mackie and Elizabeth Olsen said they were slightly injured during the making of "Captain America: Civil War," but it does not seem as if hospitalizations were required in those instances. As for "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," the production is already in the unenviable position of moving forward to tell a new story without the original film's lead actor: star Chadwick Boseman passed away last year after a four-year battle with colon cancer.
"I didn't know what was going on," Coogler said previously when asked about Boseman's illness, which the actor successfully kept secret from everyone outside of his small inner circle. "I knew what he wanted me to know. I miss him in every way that you could miss somebody, as a friend, as a collaborator. And it sucks because I love watching movies, and I don't get to watch the next thing he would have made. So it's grief on a lot of levels, but then, it's a deep sense of gratitude because I can close my eyes and hear his voice."
"You've got to keep going when you lose loved ones," Coogler continued. "I know Chad wouldn't have wanted us to stop...it would be harder for me to stop. Truthfully. I'd feel him yelling at me, like, 'What are you doing?' So you keep going."
The production will indeed "keep going" after Wright's injuries. Deadline says the incident "will not have an impact on the film's shooting schedule." It's unclear what size Wright's role is in this new film, but there was widespread speculation that her character, Shuri, would take on the Black Panther mantle in the wake of Boseman's death. We're thankful she's okay and wish her all the best for a speedy recovery.
Update: it's now being reported that Wright has been released from the hospital.
"Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" is set for release on July 8, 2022.