Lupita Nyong'o readies herself for Black Panther 2, says rewrite is ‘spiritually and emotionally correct’

There has been lots of speculation about what will happen with Black Panther 2 since Chadwick Boseman sadly passed away last year. Marvel’s Kevin Feige has already confirmed that Boseman’s T’Challa will not be recast, and that writer-director Ryan Coogler was working on a rewrite to his script that would further “the mythology and the inspiration of Wakanda.”

Lupita Nyong’o, who played Nakia in the first Black Panther movie and who is returning for the sequel, shed some additional light today on what Black Panther 2 will be like. In an interview with  Yahoo! about her upcoming project Super Sema — a kid-targeted cartoon series that follows the adventures of a young African girl who uses science, technology, engineering, art, and math to save the day in a futuristic world — Nyong’o also talked about the changes to Black Panther 2 and how she feels going into production after Boseman’s death.  

“People will ask me, ‘Are you excited to go back?’ Excitement isn’t the word,” Nyong’o told Yahoo! “I feel like I’m in a very pensive and meditative state when it comes to Black Panther 2. His passing is still extremely raw for me, and I can’t even begin to imagine what it will be like to step on set and not have him there.”

Nyong’o went on to say, however, that she feels that Coogler’s rewrite pays homage to Boseman and T’Challa. “[Ryan Coogler's] idea, the way which he has reshaped the second movie is so respectful of the loss we’ve all experienced as a cast and as a world," she said. "So it feels spiritually and emotionally correct to do this. And hopefully, what I do look forward to, is getting back together and honoring what he started with us and holding his light through it. Because he left us a lot of light that we’re still going to be bathing in. I know that for sure.”

In addition to Nyong’o, the returning cast includes Letitia Wright (“Shuri”), Winston Duke (“M'Baku”), Danai Gurira (“Okoye”), Martin Freeman (“Agent Ross”), and Angela Bassett (“Ramonda”). Production on the movie is expected to start this July.

Black Panther 2 is set to come out July 8, 2022.