Here is How ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ handles Chadwick Boseman’s death in the film
T’Challa dies in the first scene from an “undisclosed illness.”
After His Death, the Film Shows a Funeral For T’Challa.
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” opens with a chaotic scene in which Shuri (Letitia Wright) is trying to recreate the heart-shaped herb seen in the first movie in order to save her brother T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman).
Shuri comes up with a rushed solution and attempts to run to her brother, however, Ramonda (Angela Bassett), their mother, arrives and tells the princess that T’Challa is gone.
This scene is incredibly impactful since, like Boseman in real life, the character didn’t die in a fight or for supernatural reasons. It was a very sudden, human death.
While Boseman was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2016, four years before his death, he kept his illness secret and continued to act in numerous movies.
Boseman’s death, on August 28, 2020, was sudden to many people, just as T’Challa’s death was sudden in the movie.
The Film Uses The Chadwick Boseman Marvel Logo Sequence That Was Created After His death.
Before every Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, there is a credits sequence that shows clips of all the main characters in the franchise.
In November 2020, a couple of months after Chadwick Boseman died, a special sequence was created dedicated to the “Black Panther” actor and his role in the MCU.
This sequence was first used for the original “Black Panther” on Disney+.
Even after his death, Shuri struggles to grieve and move on.
After the title credits, there is a time jump of one year, but the film does not move on from T’Challa’s death.
The film portrays multiple ways of grieving and processing death through those close to T’Challa.
Shuri spends most of the movie angry at the sudden loss and tries to avoid moving on by focusing on her work.
In an interview with Variety, Letitia Wright said that she also tried to bury herself in work “hiding out in New Mexico” after Boseman’s death.
As the final battle approaches, Shuri finally recreates the heart-shaped herb and becomes the Black Panther.
Using a gift from Namor, Shuri is able to recreate the heart-shaped herb and become the new Black Panther. While it is necessary for the plot for her to take the mantle, it feels symbolic that Wright, who was close to Boseman and even looked up to him like a brother, is the next person to take on the mantle.
T’Challa’s legacy gets to continue through his son.
In the mid-credits scene, it is revealed that T’Challa and Nakia had a son and Nakia has been raising him secretly in Haiti. In the scene, Nakia reveals their son, also called T’Challa, to Shuri.
Not only does this allow T’Challa’s comic book stories to still be told on screen through his son, but the MCU also gets to honor Boseman by not recasting the character outright.
In addition, Boseman’s legacy gets to live on through a new young Black actor. Since Boseman was and continues to be such an inspirational Black figure in Hollywood, it feels apt that the baton gets to be passed on to a new young actor.