After a couple of setbacks, filming on the new “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” has started up again.
The Marvel sequel was shut down after the omicron COVID-19 variant started to surge in the country, specifically Atlanta where the show is being filmed. The coronavirus delay is the most recent pause for the production.
At one point the production was delayed after several cast and crew members have tested positive for the virus, including Lupita Nyong’o. Production was also halted because Letitia Wright got injured, fracturing her shoulder and receiving a concussion while doing stunts on set.
In August of 2020, the cast and crew were rocked after the star of the franchise Chadwick Boseman lost his battle with colon cancer.
Ryan Coogler, the co-writer, and director of the films had to figure out what was next for his vision. The suspicion was he would take a page out of Reggie Hudlin’s Black Panther graphic novel in 2017, where T’Challa’s scientist younger sister Shuri takes over the mantle.
Shuri was played by Letitia Wright in the first movie and may return to be the lead.
According to Screen Rant, most of the cast is returning. Angela Bassett will be back as Shuri and T’Challa’s mother Queen Ramonda. Danai Gurira will be back as Okoye, Winston Duke as M’Baku, Lupita Nyong’o as T’Challa’s former lover Nakia and Martin Freeman as CIA agent Everett Ross.