Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was almost completely different! Ryan Coogler reveals the original plans for the sequel before Chadwick Boseman passed.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is one of the most interesting superhero projects of all time. It’s a story that straddles the metatextual line, being both about the death of T’Challa in universe and the passing of Chadwick Boseman. One can feel how Ryan Coogler and the cast seemingly processed their grief through the creation of the film.
However, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was in the works before Chadwick Boseman passed away. Meaning, at some point, Ryan Coogler was working on a very different version of the movie with the actor set to reprise his role as T’Challa. Though, given how busy the director has been over the past few years, there hasn’t been much information put out there about what that original plan was.
Ryan Coogler’s Original Pitch For A Black Panther Sequel
Luckily, fans have finally gotten a glimpse into that alternate world during a recent appearance by Ryan Coogler on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. While speaking on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the director revealed that the story would have originally focused on Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa bonding with his growing son.
“It was like a 180-page draft chock-full of them. The big thing about the script was this thing called the ‘Ritual of Eight,’ where when a prince is eight years old, he has to go spend eight days in the bush with his father and amongst them, and amongst those eight days, they have to go into the bush without any tools. The prince has to listen to everything that’s asked of him by his father. But the rule is that for those eight days, the prince can ask the father any question, and the father has to answer.”
“During the course of those eight days, Namor launches an attack. He had to deal with somebody who was like insanely dangerous, but because of this ritual, his son had to be like joined at his hip the whole time.”
“He was engaging in negotiations, fights, and his son had to be right there, or he’d have to violate this ritual, which had never been broken. That was what the movie was. [With Black Panther: Wakanda Forever], I got a chance to make a movie about women. I love that movie so much.”
Hearing Ryan Coogler talk about his original pitch for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is likely enough to make any fan salivate to see it on the big screen. Though, given the passing of Chadwick Boseman, the film audiences ultimately got was likely the more actualizing version of the project. That being said, it would be very interesting to see Coogler eventually adapt that story in a comic.
Black Panther 3 is currently in development at Marvel Studios. Stay tuned for the latest news regarding the future of Black Panther!
