Marvel Studios
Black Panther director Ryan Coogler has revealed what the sequel would’ve been had the film’s star Chadwick Boseman not tragically passed away. Bseman died in 2020 at the age of 43 years old after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
Released in 2018, Black Panther is one of the greatest successes in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as it not only grossed over $1 billion at the box office but became the first, and only, MCU film to be nominated for Best Picture.
Just two years after the film’s release, though, Boseman passed away after a private battle with cancer, leaving a gaping hole in Hollywood.
While appearing on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Coogler detailed the plans he had for Black Panther 2 prior to Boseman’s death and revealed that he had a 180-page draft, which would be roughly a three-hour-long movie.
Black Panther director Ryan Coogler explains what the plot of the sequel was prior to the passing of Chadwick Boseman
“The big thing with the script was a thing called the Ritual of 8 where a prince is 8 years old, he must spend 8 days in the bush with his father. The rule is for those 8 days the prince can ask the father any question and the father must answer,” Coolger explained on the Happy Sad Confused podcast.
“In the course of those 8 days, Namor launches an attack… [T’Challa] had to deal with someone who’s insanely dangerous but because of this ritual, his son had to be joined at his hip the whole time or else they’d violate this ritual that had never been broken. It was insane,” he continued.
“Chadwick was going to kill it, but life goes as it goes… I loved that script. I put so much into that version of the movie because I felt like I had gotten to know Chadwick as a performer. I threw a lot at him in the first ‘Panther’ but I realized I was just scratching the surface. It was a 180-page draft.”
The Black Panther sequel — Black Panther: Wakanda Forever — was ultimately released in 2022 and focused on Letitia Wright as Shuri / Black Panther.