We all knew Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was going to be emotional. As excited as we were to return to Wakanda, watching the characters we’d come to think of as family mourn both King T’Challa—as well as Chadwick Boseman—would be difficult.
Our expectations were proven to be true during the film’s beautifully moving opening scene. As Shuri frantically works to cure her brother’s illness, Ramonda appears to tell her that T’Challa “is with the ancestors.” During T’Challa’s funeral, it quickly becomes apparent the cast and crew were saying goodbye to the character and the actor. At the 2023 Oscars Nominee Luncheon, Angela Bassett told SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show how the unforgettable scene came together.
“We were out in the woods in the elements of tall trees. The rain that was threatening, so we’re trying to move it along,” Bassett told Cagle. “Everyone was splendid and beautiful in the white, in the different attire. Dora Milaje, all the different tribes. Seeing the casket with the engraving of the sculpture, the engraving of the Black Panther on top of the casket. We did get it done. I thought maybe we were gonna have to return to shoot more of it, but I suppose we got everything that we needed in that moment. Then we moved on to the processional. That was the intimate, private memorial for my son, for the king, and then to the city for the masses, for the people who loved him.” Read more
