Last summer, I was invited alongside a group of journalists to visit the Atlanta, Georgia set of Avengers: Infinity War. You can read a more in-depth account about my experience on the set here, but suffice it to say that it was indeed epic. The amount of star-power in this movie is mind-boggling, and over the next several weeks I’ll be publishing interviews with the cast and creatives behind it all. They couldn’t reveal much in the way of specifics, of course, but it was really fun to just see their banter and interactions — which is really the crux of what the Avengers movies are all about.

So much has happened in the MCU since we visited Pinewood studios, most especially the release of Black Panther. When we spoke with the lovely Danai Gurira, Black Panther hadn’t come out yet, so we had a lot of questions about her Okoye costume and those tattoos (“On a really good day, it takes about an hour and a half. Yeah, not too bad” she told us about the application process). She then revealed more about her experience on that movie leading into Infinity War, plus what her character thinks of the Avengers entering Wakanda — including Bucky:

QUESTION: Tell us a little bit about the journey you’ve had from the first entry into the franchise to here.

GURIRA: I mean, it really started last March. It was actually the opening night of a play I’d written, and my manager says, “By the way–.” I was like “What?” I didn’t believe him. I was like “Really?” It was an offer to play this role. The next month, I was going to be in LA and meet up with Mr. Coogler, and just really loved everything he was talking about and the entire vision of it. It was really exciting to think of. I’m an African, and as a writer, I tell African stories, so it really was such an amazing thing just to see, let alone to be a part of, to have a story told from the African perspective on this scale. That was just really thrilling to me.

Of course, I was a deep admirer of Ryan’s work. I loved the concept of Wakanda so much. Its entire premise is really awesome and something I think, from the third-worlder’s perspective, is something really cherished to imagine a place like that. To me, it was deeply important on various levels, so it was a no-brainer. We started training and everything in November [and] it all came together […] Really, we worked together to collaborate and build the specifics of this world. There were so many astounding details that the team came up with, Mr. Coogler and Marvel. It felt like it was a really collaborative, intricate, intense process that I think will birth a pretty, beautiful child.

What’s the sisterhood been like on-set? And this is going back to Black Panther, but what was the experience like, working with these fantastic women?

GURIRA: Oh, it’s astounding. Me and Lupita [Nyong'o] go way back, and we just worked together on my play, Eclipsed. So, we just spent a lot of 2015 and 2016 together, right through the Tony season and all that, so it was kind of amazing to be like, “Oh my gosh! We get to do this other, totally different thing together again.” […] It was very much balancing off each other and supporting each other, and our thoughts and collaborations and how we were figuring out the language and everything.

We were making sure we had fun because I’m the person that needs to be encourage-minded to have fun, and she made sure I did that. Letitia [Wright], I met her when she was doing the same role Lupita did in that play, but in London the year before. I loved her from the second I saw her and getting into character she plays the mom, bouncing out of the rehearsal room and saying, “This girl’s got fire.” I loved her since then, so getting to be in this movie with her, it was amazing. I’ve always really adored Ms. [Angela] Bassett and she’s always been so kind and gracious to me every time I’ve been around here.

It was really beautiful, actually. We had a good time together. Supportive, fun, lots of going out on the weekend, lots of bowling, going to Nigerian food, partying. Mr. Addison [Henderson] and Chadwick made sure people always had a good time. It was actually a really awesome family of women and men. It was a great sisterhood. We took a lot of care of each other.

What can you tell us about your character's role in this movie?

GURIRA: She’s a deep traditionalist, and Wakanda is a very traditional place. It has been really protected through trades and traditions and rituals and structures that were created by the forefathers a thousand years ago. She holds it on her shoulders. She’s in charge of the intel of the nation. She’s in charge of the military. So, for her, it’s something that really weighs on her shoulders, to make sure that this nation is maintained in its secrecy of course, because what it really is, is hidden from the world, and in the structures that they developed to keep that alive. Also, to retain their status as the most advanced nation in the world.

She’s in charge of the War Dogs. The War Dogs are spies that are all over the world. They know what’s been happening across the world. It’s a lot of responsibility. She has a lot of responsibility and she takes it very seriously. She’s also responsible for the life of the king, though he can largely take care of himself. As Chadwick put it, “If I make one misstep, that’s what she’s there to handle,” and she carries that very heavily.

Of course, she just lost a monarch, which we saw in Civil War. That is also something on her heart and on her conscience. She’s known T’Challa for many, many years, but the idea of him stepping into this role, she wants that for him, she’s excited for him, but she also holds responsibility that the throne must be maintained through her structures. The changes that they go through, to the point where they are opening up their borders and they are letting people know who they are, is something that she really has to journey through. There are other characters who are more ready to do it. She’s not ready.

She’s not as happy to see the Avengers show up as everyone else might be.

GURIRA: She’s more cautious about that. She’s always thinking about how many things can go wrong and how much she can control what could go wrong before it goes wrong. But there’s not a lot of control that she can have over something that’s coming that’s this massive. But that’s where her caution is. That’s where her concerns lie. It’s, of course, in her gut. The vocation of being a Dora is you’re learning how to be one from quite a young age, so her entire vocation has been to maintain this nation. This is actually the biggest – there’s another major threat they go through in the movie you will have seen by the time this comes out, but this is one of the biggest threats they’ve dealt with. 

You said that your character is pretty much a traditionalist, and with the Avengers coming here to warn of this big threat coming, is she the type of person who would leave Wakanda to help protect the world?

GURIRA: Well, the fight’s coming to them, so that’s the – but she’s the type of person who will go where she needs to go, especially considering the fact that she’s also very deeply connected to what her king decides. She’s led by her king; being a general, you have a commander-in-chief and then you go by his decisions. She definitely lets him know her thoughts, but she goes by his decisions. Also, she’s a bit no-nonsense, but she also is – you’ll see this in Black Panther – she has a lot of warmth and humor as well.

What does she think about Bucky being in Wakanda?

GURIRA: She hasn’t been excited about outsiders. You’ll see more of that. You’ll see that in a very clear way in the movie. Outsiders, they threaten what they’ve tried built up, but that’s the big question: Do we isolate or do we open up? It’s an interesting thing that’s highly relevant to what we’re dealing with in various parts of the Western world, but it’s from an African perspective, so it’s really interesting. He’s one guy, so he’s manageable. She’s thought it through. She knows how to disarm that arm.

[Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity]

For even more Avengers, check out these articles below:

• Chris Evans & Scarlett Johansson on How the Avengers’ Dynamics Have Changed Since ‘Civil War’
• ‘Avengers: Infinity War’: New Trailer Breakdown Explores Thanos and His Black Order
• ‘Avengers: Infinity War:’ The Russo Brothers on Action, Tone, and Movies That Influenced the MCU Sequel
• ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ Has Hawkeye “on His Own Journey”
• ‘Avengers: Infinity War’: Chadwick Boseman and Mark Ruffalo on The Avengers Coming to Wakanda