Much like Wakanda,\u00a0Chadwick Boseman\u00a0lives forever in the hearts of his \u201cBlack Panther\u201d family. The spirit of the late actor, who\u00a0died in August 2020\u00a0at age 43 of colon cancer, looms large in the\u00a0emotional first trailer\u00a0of the sequel \u201cBlack Panther: Wakanda Forever,\u201d released late last month.<\/p>\n
That was all by design, as Boseman\u2019s presence was also profoundly felt behind the scenes of the\u00a0Marvel\u00a0movie, according to\u00a0Lupita Nyong\u2019o, who said making the film helped her process her co-star\u2019s death.<\/p>\n
Nyong\u2019o told the Hollywood Reporter, \u201cIt\u2019s been a doozy of a few years, I think, for everybody. For us as a cast, having lost our king, Chadwick Boseman, that was a lot to process, and in many ways, we\u2019re still processing it. When you lose someone, I don\u2019t know when you stop missing them. And of course, we felt it so much, making this film without him.\u201d<\/p>\n
She continued, \u201cTo make this film against all odds is a powerful statement unto itself, and I am very proud that we did it.\u201d Nyong\u2019o, who stars as Nakia, shared that production also faced the challenge of filming during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was very therapeutic. It restored a sense of hope for me in making it, and I think we\u2019ve expanded the world of Wakanda in ways that will blow people\u2019s minds \u2014 not just Wakanda, but the Black Panther world,\u201d the Oscar winner added. \u201cIt\u2019s gonna blow people\u2019s minds, and I just cannot wait until it\u2019s not a secret anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
Directed once again by Ryan Coogler, \u201cBlack Panther: Wakanda Forever\u201d picks up with the story \u201cin the wake of King T\u2019Challa\u2019s death,\u201d as his family and friends \u201cmust fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers.\u201d<\/p>\n