If you felt emotional while you watched Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – especially in the first few minutes —, you won’t find it hard to imagine how it was for the movie’s cast and crew. Everyone on the team was close enough to Chadwick Boseman to feel his loss, and as director Ryan Coogler revealed in The Official Black Panther Podcast, he even considered quitting the film industry at some point. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, however, the director revealed that cast and crew had to go through a grieving process together, and one of the steps was visiting the late actor’s final resting place.

The cathartic event happened the weekend before Black Panther: Wakanda Forever started filming. Coogler decided to invite a group of about 30 people to South Carolina. The group was joined by Boseman’s family, and they all report that paying their respects together felt like honoring his memory, and also taking on a commitment to do their best work in the months ahead.

Angela Bassett Comments on the Cathartic Visit

One of the cast members present was Angela Bassett, who plays Queen Ramonda and mother to T’Challa (Boseman) in both movies. The actor commented that “You just felt very blessed and very humbled to be able to stand there.” Bassett was also the one who kicked off production; her very first scene to film was the one in which Ramonda speaks to world leaders about how Wakanda will be able to stand after the death of its beloved king.

Queen Ramonda giving a speech at the UN in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Image via Marvel Studios

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How Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Is Doing So Far?

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has already grossed over $500 million worldwide just eleven days after its premiere. The movie stands out as one of the highest-rated entries in an otherwise critically-moderate Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The sequel is also the one that wraps up this batch of Marvel Studios movies and TV shows. Phase Five will kick off in February with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

On top of being the blockbuster’s director, Coogler also penned the screenplay along with Joe Robert Cole (All Day and a Night). Coolger also doubled down as producer and co-wrote the lyrics to the movie’s end-credits song “Lift Me Up”, performed by Rihanna. Aside from Bassett, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’s cast also features Letitia Wright as Shuri, Danai Gurira as Okoye, Lupita Nyong’o as Nakia, Winston Duke as M’Baku, Martin Freeman as Everett Ross, Tenoch Huerta Mejía as super-villain Namor, Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams/Ironheart, Florence Kasumba as Ayo, and Michaela Coel as Aneka.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is in theaters now. You can watch the trailer below: