‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever‘ marked the return of Ryan Coogler to the director’s chair and follows the people of Wakanda fighting to protect their nation after King T’Challa’s death.
In August 2022, the sudden demise of Chadwick Boseman shocked everyone. This includes the makers of the film who then made several changes to the script. But it feels did we really need a sequel. Why can’t a studio respect its lead actor’s death and end the franchise?
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Did We Really Need ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’?
Chadwick Boseman kept his battle with colon cancer to himself. He kept his smile intact while acting and doing interviews and all of a sudden on August 28, 2020, he was gone.
The sudden and tragic demise shocked millions of his fans. It also set in motion several changes in the script of the ‘Black Panther‘ sequel.
It would be naive for me to think that Hollywood studios don’t run by sentiments. They need to create products that would make money. End of story. But what do you do if your lead actor dies? Either to put a full stop or you go the ‘Fast & Furious‘ way (They continued to digitally create the late Paul Walker in several films.
Chadwick, however, wasn’t a run-of-the-mill film star. His appearance in a superhero flick did a lot for the representation of African-Americans in pop culture. That man struck a chord with several people and was loved by all.
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The Show Must Go On. Or Should It?
The tweet in which Boseman’s family announced his death on his Twitter account became the most-liked tweet in history, with over six million likes in under a day.
His work struck a chord and that chord was severed when he passed away. Even Ryan Coogler, the director, was planning to quit filmmaking as he couldn’t deal with the tragedy.
But the makers were back to business in no time and the script was revised. Instead of the king, the story is now focusing on the people of Wakanda as they defend their kingdom.
Marvel will soon recast T’Challa and everything will be forgotten soon. But, what else can we expect from a studio that uses a dead person’s Twitter account to promote their film?
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