Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is now before the cameras and though the majority of the shoot will take place in Atlanta, the crew is currently on location on the MIT campus in Cambridge. This has given us a telling peek toward how Marvel is going to deal with the tragic death of Chadwick Boseman.
The Cosmic Circus first reported that Dana Gurira’s Okoye, Letitia Wright’s Shuri, and Dominique Thorne’s Riri Williams have been spotted filming scenes together. The context of their meeting is unknown, but given that both Shuri and Riri are tech geniuses, they should have a lot to talk about. Meanwhile, Okoye is likely there as a Wakandan bodyguard, which may hint that Shuri has taken the the throne.
Another telling sign is that Wright was wearing a long black robe over her costume. These are generally worn when the studio wants to keep an actor’s costume under wraps on a location shoot, so this could potentially conceal her own modified Black Panther suit.
Whatever the case, it’s now clear why Kevin Feige felt the need to confirm that Thorne had been cast as Riri Williams. After all, if Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is filming a scene at MIT with an unidentified female African-American student, you wouldn’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure out that this is Ironheart.
In addition, other leaks from the set are beginning to paint a picture of how they’ll deal with Boseman’s absence. A shot of the Wakandan throne room contained some text which a fan translated as “T’Challa, our hero, twas an honor, Wakanda forever.” So, looks like it’s going to be a tear-jerker.
I’m also hyped to see more of Riri Williams going forward. She has her own six-episode Disney Plus series in the pipeline, which looks set to lead into an Armor Wars show starring Don Cheadle. All that’s hazy for now, but let’s hope we get more interesting set leaks that reveal more of what’s coming.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will hit theaters on July 8, 2022.
