Writer and director Ryan Coogler debuted the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever trailer and emoted a visceral reaction from the audience at his Comic-Con seminar and the fandom of Black Panther on social media.
“I promise you, I feel his hand on me right now,” said Coogler Saturday at Comic-Con, speaking of the late leading star, Chadwick Boseman, according to Deadline.
“Chad’s passion and genius and his culture and the impact he made on this industry will be felt forever,” added the director before the premiere of the film’s trailer.
“We put our love for Chadwick into this film. We also put our passion. This film has a ton of action and humor. It’s also a roller coaster of a movie. It goes to new places in Wakanda that we’ve never been before but other corners of the MCU,” Coogler continued.
Coogler graced the stage to speak about the highly anticipated sequel and contemplated Boseman’s legacy playing the lead role of T’Challa. Variety reports that Boseman lost his four-year battle with colon cancer and succumbed in August 2020.
“It’s going to be hard to follow that up, but we’ll try,” Coogler said.
“It’s been five years since I was here. I sat about there and we premiered the first footage from Black Panther 1, and sitting next to me was our T’Challa, the late great Chadwick Boseman.”
The NAACP-winning director teased audiences that the film will [go] to new places in Wakanda that we haven’t seen before and it goes to new places in the Marvel Cinematic Universe,” according to Variety.
Black Panther stars Lupita Nyong’o, Letitia Wright, Danai Gurira, Florence Kasumba, and Winston Duke were also in attendance to promote the Marvel action film.
“It’s a labor of love, and I have so much gratitude to be a part of it and be able to share it with you,” Duke said about the sequel.
“It’s a blessing. We’ve all grown so much as a family, and it feels great to see you guys and honor big bro at the same time,” Wright said.