The new Black Panther outfit, along with the rest of the costumes was designed by the film’s costume designer to pay tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman.
Ruth E. Carter, who designed the costumes for “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” has said that the movie’s heavy emphasis on the color white is meant to honor the late series hero Chadwick Boseman.
Carter, in an interview with Variety, said that the mourners’ white outfits were inspired by both a pivotal moment from the first film and authentic African customs.
“In the Ancestral Plane, when T’Challa wakes up and sees his father, he’s wearing white. White is a color that’s worn in a lot of funerals in Africa — it’s either bright red or it’s white — and we chose white because it connects us to Chadwick, to T’Challa.”
Will There Be a Black Panther Wakanda Forever?
Boseman died in August 2020 following a private battle with colon cancer. Marvel Studios announced shortly afterwards that it would not be recasting T’Challa, and that a different character would instead take over the mantle of Black Panther. Carter carefully avoided giving any hints as to which character that will be, but shared some of the difficulties around designing the new suit.
“There was a very careful study of, how do we make this person a superhero without changing them so much that it’s not believable as them,” she said. “This one has silver and gold elements [while] our beloved Chadwick Boseman’s suit was all silver, so that already made it a lot more glamorous for the wearer.”
While the identity of the new Black Panther has yet to be officially revealed, the most recent trailer revealed the new costume with gold details and has added to long-running speculation that Shuri, played by Letitia Wright, will be taking over from her brother.
Fan theories center on the moment at the end of the trailer clearly showing a female figure donning the new costume, which immediately followed a shot of Shuri. Other fans have also highlighted Shuri’s prominence in marketing and in the trailer itself.
Carter returned for the sequel after becoming the first African-American to win the Academy Award for Best Costume Design for her work on Black Panther. She has also been announced as the costume designer on Marvel Studios’ Blade, starring Mahershala Ali.
Along with a new Black Panther suit, Carter’s other new challenges for Wakanda Forever included Riri Williams’ Ironheart armor, and antagonist Namor’s “weird” aesthetic, which director Ryan Coogler described as a challenge to adapt. “He’s got these little wings on his ankles. He’s got pointy ears and walks around in his underwear. It’s all fun, man.”
Black Panther 2 Characters
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever character posters have been released, spotlighting the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe sequel’s impressive ensemble cast.
The new posters have also offered Marvel fans their best look yet at some new characters, particularly Dominique Thorne’s Riri Williams (in an early Ironheart suit), Tenoch Huerta’s Namor, Mabel Cadena’s Namora and Alex Livinalli’s Attuma. Some returning Black Panther characters to receive their own posters include Shuri, M’Baku, Nakia, Okoye and Everett K. Ross.
Michaela Coel’s Wakandan warrior Aneka also received a character poster, teasing how important her character will be in the upcoming MCU sequel. Wakanda Forever director Ryan Coogler previously explained that Coel was perfect for the role of Aneka since they were both “kind of a rebel” in their respective industries.
The British-Ghanaian actor also revealed that she loved the significance of Aneka’s upfront queerness, saying, “That sold me on the role, the fact that my character’s queer. I thought: I like that, I want to show that to Ghana.” Given Ghana’s longtime history of anti-LGBTQ+ policies, Coel felt that it was important for her to play Aneka, explaining, “I know just by my being Ghanaian, Ghanaians will come.”
Wakanda Goes to War
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will incorporate the real-life passing of T’Challa actor Chadwick Boseman into the film’s story, showing the leaders of Wakanda coping with the sudden loss of King T’Challa.
The official poster and trailers for the upcoming film have also teased a clash between the nations of Wakanda and Talocan, the Aztec-inspired underwater world ruled by Namor. In addition to introducing audiences to a previously unseen part of the MCU, Wakanda Forever will also debut the new Black Panther, whose identity has so far been hidden in the film’s marketing.
However, this hasn’t stopped fans from theorizing who could be behind the mask, with most believing the evidence points towards Shuri stepping up as Wakanda’s next Black Panther.
The teaser trailer for BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER has been released! pic.twitter.com/WNxpW5ICTB
— Black Panther 2 News (@bpanthernews) July 24, 2022
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will be the second superhero film Coogler has directed for Marvel Studios. The director joined the original 2018 film following the success of his Rocky spinoff film Creed in 2015.
After Black Panther went on to make over $1 billion at the global box office and earn an Academy Award for Best Picture nomination, Marvel quickly closed a deal to have Coogler return for Wakanda Forever.
However, Marvel’s partnership with Coogler may soon extend beyond the Black Panther films as recent reports have suggested that the director is being considered to helm the upcoming crossover event film Avengers: Secret Wars. Representatives for Marvel Studios and Coogler have not confirmed or denied the Secret Wars reports at this time.
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