‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ stars talk making a movie that was both ‘triggering’ and ‘healing’

Typically, the only emotions going around in the run-up to a new Marvel movie are ones of excitement and anticipation, but while those are certainly in the mix when it comes to Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the incoming sequel is certainly coming out under the shadow of Chadwick Boseman’s passing. Uniquely for the MCU to date, Ryan Coogler’s movie will directly reflect the real-life tragedy as King T’Challa’s friends, family, and subjects will be mourning his loss, just as we are on the other side of the screen.

Understandably, then, the process of making this movie during their own periods of personal grieving was a highly emotionally taxing one for the cast, with both positives and negatives. Speaking to Variety in an eye-opening piece on the production, stars Letitia Wright (Shuri) and Angela Bassett (Ramonda)—Wakanda’s queen mother and princess, respectively—have reflected on their experience.

First of all, Bassett—who’s earning some serious, potentially record-breaking Oscar buzz for her performance—talked about how tough the last two years have been:

“We’ve been managing it or dealing with it or growing from it or moving onward from the moment that we heard Chadwick had passed. It’s been two years of going through whatever cycles of grief that human beings go through.”

Wright, meanwhile, described the way that constantly having to open up about the loss of their late friend and colleague is both “triggering” and “healing”:

“It’s definitely triggering to keep discussing something that’s very close to you and really emotional. But at the same time, we understand the ways in which it could bring healing.”

Thankfully, it looks like all the hard work of the cast and crew has paid off as most of the first reactions that have dropped over the past couple of days have been extremely positive, as made clear by the film’s regal Rotten Tomatoes score—not to mention WGTC’s own glowing review. You can judge Black Panther: Wakanda Forever for yourself once it hits theaters this weekend.