Oscars 2023, indeed, was an impactful event, and it signed off on a positive note. Like the 94th Academy Awards, it was not marred with any noxious controversy. The 95th Academy Awards concluded with ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ emerging victorious. It created history, winning the most awards in a night. But, there were other historic wins registered like that of Ruth E. Carter, the costume designer for ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’.
Due to the sudden demise of Chadwick Boseman, who portrayed King T’Challa in the 2018 film, there was an uncertainty cloud hovering over the sequel of the film. The MCU fans did not want to see any other face after Chad’s riveting performance. In the criticism storm, Ryan Coogler went ahead with a sequel that was a fitting tribute to Boseman and T’Challa. ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ received four nominations during the Oscars 2023 ceremony. One of the nominations was for ‘Best Costume Design’. Ruth Carter was nominated in the category and won the award creating a historic moment.
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Ruth E. Carter Becomes First Black Woman To Win Two Oscars
In 2018, we witnessed Black supremacy in the MCU film ‘Black Panther’. It starred Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa along with Angela Bassett, Lupita Nyong’o, Michael Jordan, Letitia Wright, and others. Ryan Coogler helmed the film, and after its release, it became the highest-grossing film for an African American actor.
During the 91st Academy Awards ceremony, the film received seven nominations including the ‘Best Picture’ nomination. In 2019, Ruth E. Carter won the Academy Award for ‘Best Costume Design’. She became the first Black woman to win an Academy Award for Costume Design.
Ruth Carter created history again at the 95th Academy Awards. She won the Academy Award, again, for creating costumes for the sequel of the 2018 film, ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’. She became the first Black woman to win two Academy Awards in its history. Denzel Washington and Mahershala Ali are the only two Black actors who have won an Academy Award twice.
During her speech, she thanked the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for recognizing a Black woman who is a superhero. Ruth said, “Wow, nice to see you again. Thank you to the Academy for recognizing the superhero that is a Black woman. She endures, she loves, she overcomes.”
Ruth Carter continued, “She is every woman in this film. She is my mother. This past week, Mabel Carter became an ancestor. This film prepared me for this moment. Chadwick, please take care of Mom.”
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Ruth Was Intimidated With The Sequel Of The Film
There was no other story to have honored King T’Challa than ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’. Ryan Coogler shouldered the humongous task of taking Wakanda Forever without T’Challa. In the sequel, we see his sister, Shuri played by Letitia Wright become the new heiress to the Wakanda throne while a new adversity is looming over the nation. With a new narrative, there were many additions made to the cast.
So, it was a task for Ruth Carter to make a new suit for the new heir to the throne and create a completely new wardrobe for the people of Talokan. The designer admitted that it was a daunting task to do so. She said, “Anytime you see a new sequel in superhero films, you see an upgrade in suits. So we upgraded Wakanda.”
Carter continued, “We introduced nine superheroes in this film, we brought in a new culture, the Talokan. We went underwater. The film is very different, and bigger. It was intimidating to bring that into the second film, but we were able to take it one step at a time to do it.”
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