Marvel Studios is hard at work developing close to a dozen projects for release in 2022, in which the theatrical run will now conclude with November’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. After the first movie became Marvel’s highest-grossing solo film ever at over $1.3 billion globally, fans are looking forward to seeing how the franchise’s narrative expands in the Wakanda-centric sequel.
Filming for the sequel has taken place for the better part of Summer 2021, serving as one of Marvel fans’ sources for exciting information about the sequel’s story and new faces that will join the MCU family. Some of those teases have hinted at how the late Chadwick Boseman will be honored after his passing as other characters take more of a leading role for next year’s blockbuster.
While the film was originally meant to release next summer, recent Marvel Studios scheduling delays forced Black Panther: Wakanda Forever to move to a November 11, 2022 worldwide debut. Thanks to a recent production update, there may now be a reason behind that delay to later next year.
Black Panther 2 Production Halts
The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will temporarily halt filming during the week of Thanksgiving.
The Atlanta-based production has been filming scenes without star Letitia Wright since late August when the Shuri actress was hospitalized after sustaining an injury while filming a stunt scene for the sequel. The injury, which at the time was reported to be "minor," caused Wright to fly back to London and forced the Black Panther 2 team to rearrange their production schedules to complete scenes without Wright.
Now that there aren't any unfilled scenes left without T'Challa's sister in them, the production must wait until Wright is fully recovered to be back on camera. According to THR, the current plan is to resume production with Wright in early 2022.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was originally slated to release on July 8, 2022 before being delayed to November 11, 2022, two weeks ago. While unconfirmed, it's possible that Wright's injury was a factor in this delay.
Letitia Wright Continues to Recover
While Letitia Wright continues working toward a full recovery in London, Marvel Studios has worked diligently to film everything possible for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever with the rest of its cast. Danai Gurira's Okoye and Winston Duke's M'Baku are both set for bigger roles in next Fall's Marvel outing, and they have helped production stay as on schedule as possible during Wright's downtime.
Wright is currently on track to be fully healthy again by the end of the year, upon which time Marvel will dive back into production to complete everything needed for Shuri's role in the film. With just about a year until Black Panther 2 makes its way to theaters, Marvel should have plenty of time to film the rest of the movie and finish its work in post-production too.
With Wright's injuries likely forcing this movie's release date to be pushed, fans will be looking to see how this movie's placement alongside its Phase 4 peers will affect the overall MCU narrative. Coming in between Thor: Love and Thunder and The Marvels and setting up Wakanda-based spinoffs, this film will hold plenty of weight once Wright is back and ready to go.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will debut in theaters on November 11, 2022.
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