In the final week of March, Marvel dropped a generous batch of Avengers: Endgame character posters online that not only teased the returning heroes, but also honored the memories of many of the characters who passed away last year.
The main difference between the posters of the living and the dead was that while the survivors were shown in color, Thanos’ victims were in black and white. It was through this color scheme that we were shocked to find that Shuri was among the dusted heroes.
After the fate of Black Panther’s sister was left up in the air at the end of Avengers: Infinity War, this revelation hit the fandom right where it hurts. And at the red carpet premiere of Endgame, Letitia Wright admitted that even she only found out about her character’s demise from the posters.
“It was surprising,” the actress said. “I saw everybody in the colored photos, you know the colored posters, and then I saw myself in grey. And I was like, ‘I just died out of nowhere!’ I think the whole of Twitter was pretty upset so I kind of logged off and didn’t log back on. So I’m waiting to see how that came together and how that panned out tonight.”
With the release of Black Panther last year, Shuri became an instant instant fan favorite, and Wright recalls being pleasantly surprised by her character’s warm reception.
“It was a major surprise, one that I thank God for,” Wright continued. “I went to set every day wanting to give my best, wanting to work hard, and to see that result and that love, I didn’t expect it but I thank God for it, and now I feel a part of the family. So hopefully…at the end of this film I’m trying to see what happens. I might not get to continue but we’ll see what happens.”
Though Shuri is presumably little more than a pile of dust right now, it’s doubtful that Marvel would have the nerve to retire such a popular character after just two movies. In fact, Ryan Coogler is already confirmed to be working on Black Panther 2, and since the gifted Wakandan has appeared in more than one piece of Endgame promo art, it’s also looking more than likely that Shuri will show up somewhere in this week’s release.
In any case, you can keep an eye out for Wright and her famed older brother when Avengers: Endgame hits theaters on April 26th.
