Before Boseman’s death, he was set to reprise his role as T’Challa in Wakanda Forever. Ryan Coogler, the movie’s director, the scriptwriting team, comprised of himself and Joe Robert Cole, had already finished creating the first draft of the sequel’s script, codenamed Summer Break, before changing it after the iconic actor lost his battle with colon cancer. He stated that the film had featured numerous crazy scenes for Boseman to play. While this isn’t the first time the director will address the script’s changes, Coogler’s latest statement provided more context. According to him, the original script focused on T’Challa after he returned from the abrupt five-year absence that resulted from Thanos’ snap to find out he had become a dad. He stated that it was designed to be a father-son story that followed Boseman’s character T’Challa and his son Toussaint. In his words: Coogler details how the timeline experienced a three-year time skip to T’Challa’s struggles to co-parent Toussaint with Nakia and her new husband, among other things. While the main parts of the script differed from the theatrical release, certain components of the film remained the same. For example, both the script and the released versions had the same antagonist – the Talocan King Namor. Also, both versions feature the CIA director Valentina, although the character had a bigger role in the original script. More importantly, both scripts told intimate stories about loss. In the original script, T’Challa lost his love and five years of his son’s life. Similarly, the final film told the story of T’Challa’s death and Wakanda’s attempts to thrive following his demise. Despite the changes they had to make to the script due to Boseman’s death, things turned out well as is evident by the film’s gross and ratings. What’s more? The film was shortlisted for five Oscar nominations earlier in December. Wakanda Forever was released on November 11, 2022. It is still showing in theaters around the world. Also, the film’s producer recently revealed that a director’s cut of the film exists. However, there is currently no indication that Marvel will release it to the public.
