Black Panther: Wakanda Forever director Ryan Coogler nearly quit filmmaking after Chadwick Boseman’s passing

The newest trailer for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever dropped yesterday and showcased more of what audiences are expected to see in the newest outing from Ryan Coogler. The trailer for the anticipated follow-up reached over a million views within the first half-hour since being uploaded onto YouTube. Nearly every fan predicts how emotional it will be to see a Black Panther movie without the Black Panther they’ve come to know and love, Chadwick Boseman. 

According to Deadline, the passing of Boseman had such an impact on director Ryan Coogler that he almost walked away from filmmaking. Coogler sat down with Entertainment Weekly and spoke about his reaction to the event of Boseman’s death,

I was at a point when I was like, ‘I’m walking away from this business. I didn’t know if I could make another movie, period, [let alone] another Black Panther movie, because it hurt a lot. I was like, ‘Man, how could I open myself up to feeling like this again? I was poring over a lot of our conversations that we had towards what I realized was the end of his life. I decided that it made more sense to keep going.”

Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige and Coogler would discuss what the future of the franchise would hold in regards to recasting T’Challa or not. They felt it was just too soon to recast and wanted to tell a different story. They wanted to tell one that would honor and pay tribute to their fallen friend. In addition, they felt they could explore the lore of Wakanda and the characters who inhabit it even more in this as they themselves deal with the loss of their king. 

Coogler adds, “It’s my job as a filmmaker to do things that I have personal integrity with. If I don’t believe in what I’m doing, I’m going to have a hard time getting other people to do their best work. For them to do their best work, they have to believe in it. At the end of the day, the choices we make have to feel truthful to me. When filmmakers make things that don’t feel truthful to them, you can feel it. And I will argue that those projects don’t have a shot at working.”

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever opens in theaters on November 11.