Since the summer, Black Panther filmmaker Ryan Coogler, along with the cast and crew, have been hard at work on the Marvel sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ahead of its late 2022 release date. Unfortunately, in late August, Letitia Wright was injured on the set of the film while shooting a sequence on a stunt rig. The actress has since taken a leave from the production as filming continued to progress. But, now we’re hearing Wakanda Forever is taking a pause until next year.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is shutting down production as Letitia Wright continues to heal from her on-set injury, per The Hollywood Reporter. The cast and crew has been working around the actress in the meantime but it looks like the 28-year-old will now need more time to recover.
When Letitia Wright was first injured, Marvel Studios shared that Letitia Wright’s injury would not be stalling production, but plans have since changed as the actress continues to take it easy at home in London. Reportedly, Ryan Coogler has now shot all the footage he can without Letitia Wright. Since she isn’t ready to jump back on set in Atlanta, Georgia, the entire cast and crew will be taking a break starting from the week of Thanksgiving until early 2022. A representative for Letitia Wright shared the following statement:
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.
With that in mind, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will lose at least a month on its filming schedule when it’s currently set for a November 2022 release. It’s unclear who the focus of the Marvel sequel will be following the tragic death of Chadwick Boseman the summer prior, but many believe Letitia Wright will step up as the star of the Marvel film. Wright plays T’Challa’s sister Shuri, who has a knack for technology and helped save the universe with the Avengers in Infinity War and Endgame.
Also among the Wakanda Forever cast is Angela Bassett back as the mother of T’Challa and Shuri, Ramonda, Daniel Kaluuya’s W’Kabi, Lupita Nyong’o’s Nakia, Danai Gurira’s Okoye, Winston Duke’s M’Baku, Florence Kasumna’s Ayo and Martin Freeman’s Everett K. Ross. I May Destroy You’s creator and star Michaela Coel will play an unknown role in the film as well.
The first Black Panther film is the most decorated Marvel film to date, since it became the first to be nominated for Best Picture, along with other distinctions. There’s a lot of pressure on Wakanda Forever to do right by its legacy and continue the story in a meaningful way without T’Challa. We’ll keep you posted here on CinemaBlend about the project as we learn more. We wish Letitia Wright well with her continued recovery.
