Black Panther: Wakanda Forever director Ryan Coogler is revealing the heartbreaking final conversation he had with Chadwick Boseman, the beloved star of 2018’s Black Panther who tragically passed away in 2020 following a secret years-long battle with colon cancer.
In a candid conversation with Coogler, who revealed he almost stepped away from directing Wakanda Forever following Boseman’s death, the acclaimed director recounted on Marvel’s Official Black Panther Podcast the tragic final conversation he had with the actor.
“My last conversation with him was calling him and asking him if he wanted to read [the Wakanda Forever script] before I got notes from the studio. That was the last time we spoke. And yeah…he passed maybe a couple weeks after I finished.”
When asked what Boseman said in their conversation, Coogler became audibly choked up and had to take a beat to gather himself before continuing. At the time, both Coogler and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom producer Denzel Washington were trying to get ahold of Boseman, so Coogler texted the actor. That is when Boseman called Coogler back.
“And I could tell he was laying down when we were talking. And uh, Simone [Ledward Boseman] was with him. And he kicked Simone out ‘cause he didn’t want her to hear nothing that could get him in trouble with his NDA [non-disclosure agreement]. And she didn’t want to leave him. So I could tell something was up, you know. But they was joking and laughing. He talked about how they was planning they wedding in South Carolina and like how many people they was going to invite…And he had asked about my kid ‘cause he had missed the baby shower.”
Boseman explained to Coogler that he didn’t want to read the Wakanda Forever script just yet because “he didn’t want to get in the way of whatever notes the studio might have or what have you.” However, Coogler later found out the real reason Boseman did not want to read the script was that he was simply “too tired to read anything.”
It is extremely tragic to hear about the final conversation Coogler had with Boseman, especially since the director’s recollection makes it clear he was also in the dark about Boseman’s illness until after he passed away. However, we can certainly understand why Coogler wanted to pay homage to Boseman, who was considered a major acting talent of his generation, with the plot of Wakanda Forever partially centering on the passing of his character, King T’Challa, and the surrounding characters dealing with the loss.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever comes to theaters on Nov. 11.
