‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ star’s arc mirrored what director Ryan Coogler was really feeling

When making something, directors often put their own experiences into art. Tenet and Inception are believed by some to be Nolan making movies about the experience of making his movies and, in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, one role is Ryan Coogler.

A new article from The Wrap reveals Danai Gurira’s Okoye reflects what the director was feeling in the wake of franchise star Chadwick Boseman’s death. The script had to be re-written after the T’Challa star’s death from cancer and Gurira says with Okoye losing someone she was close to, how the character saw her peer reflects Coogler and Boseman’s close relationship.

“The vision was very clear for [Coogler] about her and how she’s handling grief or not handling grief, and where that lands her and where she is in her grief process, and how she imagines how to take care of this nation as it is in a less powerful place in terms of the devastating loss and how she as a commander of the army has to hold it all together. But can she? And has she just dealt with her own issues in terms of losing her friend, her brother? That journey really was very specific for him and clear.”

WGTC gave the flick four out of five stars in our review.

The themes are resonating with critics so far. WGTC gave the flick four out of five stars in our review, with critic Alejandra Martinez writing that Wakanda Forever “makes room for us to experience grief in all of its complexity, a rare thing in movies, let alone blockbuster superhero franchises. On Rotten Tomatoes it has an 84 percent positive rating and the consensus is it has it’s a poignant, rewarding triumph.

Certainly, it’s something for Coogler to be proud of, though, for him, he says the most important thing is the cast pulled through. Coogler also tells The Wrap he wants the work to feel like something from the ’90s and drew inspiration from The Abyss, Jurassic Park, and The Fugitive. Essentially, tactile movies that feel fantastical, but are also very real. The work also features a post-credits scene, and, apparently, no big cameos hinting at the future of the franchise are included. Though it is possible this could just be deception and audiences will find out soon enough when they get out to their theaters and see it.