Ryan Coogler reveals how one slight camera tweak captured the ‘fog of loss’ in ‘Wakanda Forever’

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever director Ryan Coogler discusses how the camera will capture the emotional hardship in the highly anticipated sequel.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Coogler discussed what he’s seeking to achieve in Wakanda Forever, both stylistically and narratively, that best serves the story. “I think this film has the fog of loss over it, and anamorphic lenses warp the image a little bit,” he said. “Sometimes when you go through profound loss, it can warp how you look at the world.”

After the tragic loss of Chadwick Boseman in Aug. 2020, the MCU made the decision not to recast another actor as T’Challa. They would instead move forward with a new Black Panther altogether, and in the Wakanda Forever trailer, we get our first glimpse of who she could be.

Coogler had already started working on the Black Panther sequel after the first movie, but after Boseman’s death, he had to adjust to the loss and find a way to keep the actors going through all the difficulties in a way that honored the talented actor. In doing so, the director found new elements to portray the relevant themes present in the story, one of which was using anamorphic lenses instead of spherical ones.

“What we were after was just making it feel tactile, even though it felt like a dream,” continued Coogler. “The film should feel like a really wild dream that you would have, but where everything felt like it was really there.”

Anamorphic lenses are specialty tools that were created to accommodate a wide range of aspect ratios within a standard frame. These lenses squeeze a wider view than normal and it can give a story a more nostalgic feel. With how resoundingly emotional Wakanda Forever looks, Coogler is relying on this visual distinction to evoke the heartfelt emotions audiences will be experiencing when they watch this follow-up story.

Wakanda Forever will see the characters picking up the pieces after the loss of T’Challa. Back again are Angela Bassett as Queen Ramonda, Lupita Nyong’o as Nakia, Letitia Wright as Shuri, Dani Gurira as Okoye, and Winston Duke as M’Baku. New to the franchise is the underwater kingdom of Talocan leader Namor (Tenoch Huerta) and Riri Williams/Ironheart (Dominique Thorne), who will be getting her own Disney Plus series following the movie.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever comes to theaters on Nov. 11.