- - Ryan Coogler Reveals His Original Plans for “Black Panther 2” Before Chadwick Boseman's Death

Eric AnderssonDecember 30, 2025 at 9:56 PM

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Marvel Studios Chadwick Boseman in 'Black Panther.' -

Director Ryan Coogler revealed his original idea for the Black Panther sequel, which he conceived before star Chadwick Boseman died in 2020

Coogler said on the Dec. 29 episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast that he was excited to give Boseman a lot to do in the sequel after realizing the first film was just "scratching the surface" of the actor's abilities

After Boseman's death, Coogler reworked the script and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was released in 2022

Director Ryan Coogler is sharing his original vision for the Black Panther sequel, which he reworked after lead actor Chadwick Boseman died of colon cancer in 2020.

Boseman, who played T’Challa, king of Wakanda and his titular alter-ego in the 2018 Marvel Cinematic Universe hit, was meant to get a meaty arc in the follow-up, Coogler, 39, said on the Dec. 29 episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast.

“I threw a lot at Chad in the first Panther. But I … realized, like, oh, man, I was just scratching the surface. … I was just like, I was it was like a dump truck on him,” the Sinners director told host Josh Horowitz.

Excited by the possibilities for Boseman, Coogler centered the sequel — which would later become 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever — on T’Challa and his young son, who are taking part in a “ritual” when mutant Namor launches an attack.

Matt Kennedy/Marvel Studios

Lupita Nyong'o and Chadwick Boseman in 'Black Panther.'

“The big thing about the script was … this thing called The Ritual of Eight … when a prince is eight years old, he has to go spend eight eight days in the bush with his father…They have to go into the bush … without any tools. … And the prince … has to listen and do everything that's asked of him by his father. But the rule is for those eight days, the prince can ask the father any question and the father has to answer….And during the course of those during the course of those eight days, Namor launches an attack….That was what the movie was.”

Namor remained an antagonist in Wakanda Forever. He was played by Tenoch Huerta, who reprises the role in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday.

Eli Adé/Marvel Studios Tenoch Huerta as Namor in 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.'

Coogler also revealed on the podcast that he was never able to show Boseman his original script. “What happened was I finished it and … he was he was was too sick to read it, bro. …He was at a place where it wasn't it … gonna happen.”

Following Boseman’s death at age 43, Coogler and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige opted not to recast T’Challa. Coogler instead reworked the script to incorporate T’Challa’s death.

Boseman “meant a lot to me,” said the director, who also shared how the actor gave him a pep talk on the set of the first movie.

“I was convinced … on the toughest days on Panther, I was convinced that I was gonna get fired…. and I would say that. I would say it all the time, bro,” he recalled.

Mike Marsland/WireImage

Ryan Coogler and Chadwick Boseman in 2018.

“Like if the actors [were] taking their time to get out of makeover, like, ‘Y'all gotta hurry up or they gonna fire me.’ You know what I mean?”

“One day, he took me to the side and he was like, ‘Yo, stop saying that.’ … I was like, ‘Man, I really feel that way,’” said Coogler, who, at the time, had directed two feature-length films and a handful of shorts. “He was like, ‘Look at me, bro. … I would never let that happen to you.’"

on People

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”