Letitia Wright: Black Panther sequel honours Chadwick Boseman

Letitia Wright says ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ honours the late Chadwick Boseman “in a beautiful way”.

The 28-year-old actress reprises her role as Shuri in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) sequel and thinks Ryan Coogler’s blockbuster is the perfect tribute to Chadwick – who played the lead role in the original movie and died aged 43 in 2020 after a battle with colon cancer.

Speaking to The Playlist, Letitia said: “It was hard for me to imagine being on set without my brother. It was something I was battling for months.

“The confidence that Ryan felt that he heard Chadwick just give him that gentle push forward, to continue. And the way that Ryan would express that it was bigger than all of us, and Chad would have wanted us to continue.

“That really encouraged me. I have so much confidence. I love Ryan.”

The ‘Death on the Nile’ star added: “I can’t wait for you guys to see the film and how we honoured Chad in a beautiful way.”

Letitia explained how the cast and crew gave everything for the blockbuster in honour of Boseman’s memory.

She said: “We honoured him by committing ourselves to the story that he started, the legacy he started with this franchise, and we committed every day to working hard, no matter what circumstances we faced. And we faced a lot of circumstances. We poured everything into this movie.”

Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has described the upcoming movie – that will be released in November – as a “tribute” to Boseman.

He said: “It’s a very important thing that ‘Wakanda Forever’ not only brings the same level of joy and inspiration that the first ‘Black Panther’ film did, but it also is a tribute to what he did, and what he brought not to just to us, but to the world.”