Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the sequel to the 2018 Marvel film Black Panther, will resume shooting next week in Atlanta now that actor Letitia Wright has recovered from her injury, as per The Hollywood Reporter.
Production of the Ryan Coogler directorial was temporarily halted in November 2021 since Wright, who plays Shuri, the tech-savvy sister of T’Challa, had not fully recovered from an injury she had incurred in August, while shooting a sequence involving a stunt rig in Boston. At the time, Marvel Studios had said Wright’s injury would ultimately not impact the shooting schedule of the film. The actor went back to her home in London to recover while filming continued without her. However, since she was still not back in November, production was stalled.
According to the latest THR report, the shooting of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was initially supposed to resume last week, but was delayed after multiple cast and crew members, including Oscar-winning actor Lupita Nyong’o, had tested positive for Covid-19. Filming is now set to restart next week in Atlanta and will reportedly go on for about four weeks.
While Marvel has not made any official announcement yet, the report adds that the delay is unlikely to influence the release date, which, notably, has already been pushed from July 8.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is currently scheduled for release on November 11, 2022.
Recommended
Black Panther, set in Wakanda, is one of the biggest MCU films with a box-office collection of $1.34 billion worldwide. It features late actor Chadwick Boseman alongside Michael B Jordan, Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, and Wright, among others, and follows the story of the fictional Afro-futuristic country Wakanda that is abundant in vibranium – the strongest metal on earth in the Marvel universe.
Production on the sequel was supposed to start in March 2021, but was put on hold after Boseman died of colon cancer in August 2020.
In a subsequent statement, Marvel said the sequel would continue to honour the legacy of Boseman and his portrayal of King T’Challa, and not recast the character. Rather, the upcoming film “will continue to explore the incomparable world of Wakanda and all of the rich and varied characters introduced in the first film.”