SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers for “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” now playing in theaters.
Every Marvel fan knew “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” was going to be an emotional wallop given the death of Chadwick Boseman, whose original “Black Panther” character, T’Challa, dies from a mysterious illness at the start of the sequel. But few expected the movie to deliver a second gut-punching death. T’Challa’s mother, Queen Ramonda, dies midway through “Wakanda Forever.” She drowns during Namor’s (Tenoch Huerta) attack on Wakanda, which sets Shuri (Letitia Wright) on a path of revenge against him in the third act.
Queen Ramonda’s death is perhaps the biggest twist of “Wakanda Forever,” and it’s one that actor Angela Bassett initially objected to herself when she first discovered her character’s fate. Bassett told IndieWire that director Ryan Coogler had to assuage her concerns over killing off Ramonda.
Popular on Variety
“I objected,” Bassett said. “Yeah, I was like, ‘Ryan, what are you doing? Why? You will rue the day! You will rue the demise of [Ramonda]. People are gonna be so upset.’ He was like, ‘Angela, I know, I know, but look, to die is not really to die in this world. It doesn’t really have to mean that.’”
Coogler was referring to the various ways dead Marvel characters have returned to the screen, from reversing Thanos’ snap in “Avengers: Endgame” to the Ancestral Plane in the “Black Panther” movies. For instance, it’s in the Ancestral Plane where Michael B. Jordan’s dead character “Black Panther” villain Killmonger makes a surprise cameo in “Wakanda Forever.” Even Bassett’s Queen Ramonda is seen again after her death calling to Shuri from the Ancestral Plane.
“All kinds of crazy things happen,” Bassett said.
Speaking to Variety as part of the “Wakanda Forever” cover story, Bassett said she had other fears about taking on the “Black Panther” sequel without Boseman at its center. With T’Challa gone, the film’s script puts the relationship between Shuri and Queen Ramonda at its forefront. Coogler told Bassett that she would be “important and vital” to the sequel’s overhauled screenplay.
“Almost to the point that I was going to get a complex, like, ‘Am I going to be able to deliver what you’re asking for?’” Bassett said. “She had to be strong. She had to be a mother. She had to be a leader. He was just throwing all of this at me. And then on top of that: ‘Can you swim? Can you put your head in water?’”
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” is now playing in theaters nationwide.
