New ‘Black Panther 2’ Featurette Goes ‘Back to Wakanda’ (VIDEO)

October 19, 2022October 19, 2022 Victor Medina

A new featurette from Marvel Studios takes fans behind-the-scenes of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, as the cast discusses the loss and legacy of star Chadwick Boseman, and the challenges of continuing the story without him.

“We all suffered an incredible loss when we lost Chadwick,” Winston Duke, who plays M’Baku said of Boseman, who died in August of 2020 at the age of 43 from colon cancer. Oscar nominee Angela Bassett, who plays Ramonda, discussed how the film pays tribute to Chadwick. “In the telling of this story, we were all able to honor him together. I’m so grateful and blessed to be a part of this.”

While the film honors Chadwick Boseman’s memory, it also opens a new chapter for Wakanda and the Black Panther character. Namely, the film introduces Namor, the mutant leader of an underwater nation named Talokan. Tenoch Huerta, who plays Namor, is excited about joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe playing one of Marvel’s oldest characters. “The opportunity to play a character like this is a dream,” he said.

Letitia Wright, who plays Shuri, is excited about what comes next. “There are so many new characters to explore and to see the world of Wakanda again, and now we’re going to this whole new world underwater,” she said.

Still, the film has big shoes to fill with the loss of Boseman. Whether it will do that remains to be seen, but it will make it a point to honor the actor while honoring the character. “It was really moving to come back to Wakanda and to do it with a sense of celebration,” Lupita Nyong’o, who plays Nakia, said. Wright is also looking forward to audiences seeing how the film salutes Chadwick. “I’m excited about us honoring Chad…He would want us to inspire the world,” she said.

Here’s the behind-the-scenes featurette, “Return to Wakanda.”