Black Panther 2 Shuts Down Production As Letitia Wright Recovers From On-Set Injury
Some bad news has just arrived from the set of "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," the sequel to Marvel Studios' Best Picture-nominated film and runaway pop culture juggernaut. We previously reported on star Letitia Wright's injuries sustained during filming of a stunt-heavy action sequence that were described to be "minor" in nature, though she did end up requiring hospitalization at the time. The initial report also indicated that shooting would not be negatively affected by the setback, despite several rumors insisting that Wright's character of Shuri, a brilliant scientist and the younger sister of T'Challa/Black Panther, would step up to fill the shoes of the tragically departed Chadwick Boseman and thus require much more screen time.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, however, production on "Wakanda Forever" is now shutting down temporarily as Wright continues to recover from her injuries. Read on for details as to whether this affects the film's release date and the nature of Wright's role in the sequel after the passing of Boseman.
Looking Ahead
Additional details in the report acknowledge that Letitia Wright's Shuri "was elevated as the lead of the sequel" upon rewrites that had to take into account the loss of Chadwick Boseman. Marvel, of course, released a public statement at the time that they would not be recasting the role of T'Challa, instead choosing to honor Boseman by retiring the character. The mantle of Black Panther, however, can still very much be passed on to another. Though the deep bench of strong supporting characters in "Black Panther" left any number of potential candidates, it certainly seems as if that title has shifted (or, at least at some point in the sequel, will be shifted) towards Shuri.
Letitia Wright's representatives also released a statement, saying that:
"Letitia has been recovering in London since September from injuries sustained on the set of 'Black Panther 2' and is looking forward to returning to work early 2022. Letitia kindly asks that you keep her in your prayers."
"Wakanda Forever" had continued to film in Atlanta for the last two months since Letitia Wright's accident, but it seems director Ryan Coogler has completed shooting all the material he can possibly do without the presence of Wright. In the meantime, the crew will take the downtime caused by the temporary shutdown (which is said to begin the week of Thanksgiving) to "reconfigure" the remaining production ahead of a restart in early 2022. Importantly, the release date is not expected to change from its current November 11, 2022 date. Stay tuned to /Film for more updates as they come in.