Behind The Scenes of Marvel Studios' 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' with Ryan Coogler

In the wake of T’Challa’s death, Wakanda is left without a Black Panther. As vibranium is found in the realm, a new enemy breaches Wakandan borders. Queen Ramonda must join forces with this new threat of potentially put her people at risk. Go behind the scenes of the epic film with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – Official Movie Special, available on October 31 at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million or wherever you like to buy books.

In the film, Marvel Studios' Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,  director Ryan Coogler takes the task of following up to the first international hit film, Black Panther along with how to honor the legacy of Chadwick Boseman, while introducing new characters such as Namor and Riri Williams.

The special edition takes you behind the scenes of the new movie to meet the director, producer, writers, and cast, and discover a wealth of incredible on-set photography and production art. Through exclusive interviews you can hear what it was like to bring Ryan Coogler's vision to life.  

You can pre-order Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – Official Movie Special at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million or wherever you like to buy books.

Please enjoy an excerpt from the book with Ryan Coogler, director of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

INTERVIEW WITH RYAN COOGLER

What is the setup for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever?

Black Panther was about the struggle to move on after the passing of a father. T’Challa had to reckon with what kind of man he was going to be. This film explores the relationship between Ramonda and Shuri. We know Ramonda’s character as the mom of the king, but in this film she’s the queen of Wakanda, as well as being the mother to her daughter, Shuri. We see what she was going through and her perspective on the loss of T’Challa, which is very different from Shuri’s perspective. When the Blip happened, Shuri and T’Challa disappeared, but Ramonda was left. Her character has had this really complex emotional experience of losing both her kids, then being reunited with them, and losing one again. She is trying to give Shuri some emotional insight into this.

What made you decide to bring Namor into this film?

We’re really excited to portray this character in the film. Comic book fans will know him; he’s one of the oldest Marvel characters [first introduced in 1939, when Marvel Comics was still known as Timely Comics]. His very appearance shows that Wakanda is not safe as it thought it was. In the comics, Black Panther has a really fun rogues’ gallery. He has conflicts with Ulysses Klaue, Erik Killmonger, Dr. Doom, Kraven the Hunter, the X-Men, and many others. But the conflicts he has with Namor are the ones that stick in your head. These tended to be the most complex and are the most fun, with the greatest lines of dialogue. In the first Black Panther film, T’Challa tells Klaue, “Every breath you take is mercy from me.” But actually, in the comics, Black Panther said that to Namor. These characters had so much in common and for some reason just despised each other.

What are some of the production challenges?

Before we could start shooting, we pre-visualized as much as we could from the storyboards. We figured out what we would need in each shot. We always spend a lot of time making sure the VFX [visual effects] can get off to the right start. We want to have everything ready before the actors arrive on set. The sets are big and we have to make sure we spread our budget so we can get everything we need. We have to figure out what’s going to go to visual effects and how many stunt players we need – and how many of these stunt players need to be water players! We have to figure out how many weapons we needed and what they should look like, as well as costumes. We have to get the script dialed in so that we’re not biting off more than we can chew, and not shooting scenes we’re not going to use. The ship has to be headed in the right direction, because you know that it’ll be hard to change course once all the actors land and we get cameras up. Our first day of filming was July 7, 2021, a Thursday. It was the UN scene, with Angela Bassett as Ramonda, shot right here in Atlanta.

Order Marvel Studios’ Wakanda Forever: The Official Movie Special to read the full interview with Ryan Coogler, actors Angela Bassett (Queen Ramonda), Letitia Wright (Princess Shuri), Lupita Nyong’o (Nakia) and more, illustrated with a wealth of incredible on-set photography and production art. On sale October 31, 2023.

Pre-order Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – Official Movie Special at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million or wherever you like to buy books.