It’s official and Daniel Kaluuya said it: The character V’Kabi will be another great absentee in Black Panther: Wakanda Foreverwhich will be released next November. The film, which has gone through several major problems since the death of Chadwick Boseman, is now facing another major loss of its cast. Kaluuya, who will premiere the thriller in a few weeks Not Jordan Peele commented rotten tomatoes which had to be canceled for scheduling reasons. According to the actor, the repeated rescheduling of the filming of the production became a “scheduling conflict”.
Kaluuya played T’Challa/Black Panther’s best friend and romantic interest in Danai Gurira’s Okoya. In the original film, W’Kabi betrayed T’Challa and briefly supported Killmonger Michael B. Jordan. However, by the end of the movie his fate in history was not entirely clear. His return was expected to be part of the context that could link the sequel to the original production. Especially after sci-fi does justice to Chadwick Boseman’s absence. Which puts the surviving chiefs of the rest of the Wakanda tribes in a special place.
But Kaluuy’s absence makes it clear that the film is going through more than just production scheduling issues and scheduling delays. It is infamous that with the loss of one of the visible faces of Wakanda the argument was to reconfigure your power map from the start. Without Boseman, and now without Kaluuy, it’s clear that the film’s story landscape has completely changed. Which can completely affect the tone and pace of a movie.
Trouble in Marvel’s Tech Capital of the World
Shooting Black Panther: Wakanda Forever experienced dozens of setbacks since the death of Chadwick Boseman in August 2020. The film, which at the time of the death of the actor was in the early stages of preparation, he had to completely rethink his premise. And that included rewriting the script and approaching its story. For Ryan Coogler, the director of both the original and the sequel, it was a challenge, as he admitted in several interviews, at times it seemed “insurmountable”.
The loss of Boseman dealt a significant blow to thematic unity Black Panther like a concept. Especially when Marvel made it clear that they would not choose a new actor to play the King of Wakanda. This was a big disadvantage because it forced Coogler and the writing team to go down a new path for the sequel. New approach to story delayed production and the start of filming for almost six months. By that time, quarantine due to COVID-19 had caused a mandatory hiatus which again halted recordings on set. To add to that, most of the cast fell ill on set.
Finally, for August 2021, when filming was already going well, there was a new and noticeable delay. This time it was due to an injury suffered by star Letitia Wright while filming an action movie in Boston. Filming was put on hold until November, and then it was decided that the rest of the crew would continue filming scenes that did not involve Wright. Nonetheless, the resource had the inconvenience associated with the need to separate the actors and a film crew in several crews, which increased the cost of production.
As if all of the above wasn’t enough, a video went viral in late October 2020 in which Wright expressed his anti-vaccination stance. Controversy erupted immediately and prevented the actress from returning to the set due to vaccine regulations in North America. By that time, the essence of the film seemed to have changed again, and it was reported that Winston Duke’s M’Baku would play a larger role in the sequel. Which, no doubt, explains a major change in the perception of power in the fictional Wakanda.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Significant Uncertainty
Although the character of Kaluuy was considered a minor luxury, his absence hits the already complex panorama of life. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Director and screenwriter Ryan Coogler has repeatedly said that rethinking the original premise significantly changed the tone of the film. But in general, the perception of the film is such that it suffers from major changes and does not quite correspond to the central idea that triumphed in the original film.
In an interview with journalist Jemele Hill in September 2021, Kaluuya said he had no idea what would happen to his character. “I have no idea. I often talk to Ryan, but I won’t tell him to put me in a movie. He lives his life and works hard,” Kaluuya explained when asked about the future of V’Kabi. story, I’ll be there.” Now his absence raises troubling questions about what may or may not be happening on set.
