Earlier this week, Black Panther actress Letitia Wright suffered minor injuries while shooting the sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, in Boston. Fortunately, Wright didn’t stay at the hospital long, and production on the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movie was not impacted. But with the news of Wright having been hospitalized coming out, it also seemingly squashed a rumor that had surfaced last year that she wouldn’t appear in Wakanda Forever.
Back in December 2020, Letitia Wright shared a video on Twitter that questioned the COVID-19 vaccine, among other controversial remarks. When people on the social media platform took issue w with Wright plugging the video, the actress said she was simply raising concerns about what she could be putting in her body. This subsequently led to accusations that Wright was an anti-vaxxer, leading to her deleting both her Twitter and Instagram accounts.
From there, speculation emerged that Marvel could recast Shuri for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, with TMZ even wondering if I May Destroy You star Michaela Coel would take over the role when her casting was announced last month. But just like how calls to replace Amber Heard as Mera on Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom went unanswered, Marvel decided to keep Letitia Wright on for Wakanda Forever, as evidenced by the news of her going to the hospital due to an incident involving a stunt rig. As such, we’re still in the dark on who Coel will be playing, though there is some cool fan art that depicts her as Storm.
Frankly, most of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is shrouded in secrecy, including story details. What we do know is that along with Letitia Wright reprising Shuri, princess of Wakanda and leader of the African nation’s Design Group, the sequel will also feature the return of Lupita Nyong’o’s Nakia, Danai Gurira’s Okoye, Winston Duke’s M’Baku, Angela Bassett’s Ramonda and Martin Freeman’s Everett K. Ross. Wakanda Forever will also introduce Dominique Williams’ Riri Williams ahead of the premiere of her Disney+ series Ironheart. As far as other newcomers go, Michaela Coel will reportedly be accompanied by Tenoch Huerta, who is rumored to be playing Namor the Sun-Mariner.
Of course, we can’t discuss Black Panther: Wakanda Forever without bringing up the man who was supposed to star in it. Sadly, Chadwick Boseman passed away from colon cancer a year ago, and Marvel Studios decided not to hire a new actor to play T’Challa, nor recreate the character digitally. So not only does T’Challa’s fate need to be addressed, but there’s also the question of who will inherit the Black Panther mantle. The most logical guess among the fans has been Shuri, as not only has the character become Black Panther in the comics, but it’s been reported that Letitia Wright will have a bigger role in Wakanda Forever.
All will be revealed when Black Panther: Wakanda Forever opens on July 8, 2022. While we wait for more updates on its progress, look through our upcoming Marvel movies guide to learn what else this superhero franchise is sending to the big screen.
