As much as Black Panther: Wakanda Forever introduced new characters such as Ironheart’s Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) and the new ‘villain’ Namor (Tenoch Huerta), while also having Erik ‘Killmonger’ Stevens (Michael B. Jordan) return, we have lost valuable characters along the way. As the film pays tribute to Chadwick Boseman and T’Challa, it also bids farewell to Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett).
Read More: Black Panther Fans Want Angela Bassett to Win an Oscar for Stunning Wakanda Forever Performance
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever may have set off more potential character spinoffs for M’Baku and Okoye on Disney+, however, fans still have to mourn the death of the beloved Queen of Wakanda.
Black Panther 2 writer Joe Robert Cole explains that MCU Ramonda’s ending was crucial to the narrative, as he explained the process in a recent Rolling Stone interview. The writer reveals how much they had to think which character would be affected the most by T’Challa’s loss, and of course, aside from Shuri (Letitia Wright), it would be Ramonda, the mother. Read Cole’s explanation below:
“We started to work through that journey of where she (Shuri) would be, her anger, her frustration and her pouring herself into her work. You think back to her point of view on the mystical side of Wakanda, how she’s more about science than she is about the ancestors and ancestral plane.”
Cole further delves into the destiny of the Wakanda queen, reiterating what she had to go through, what she had lost up until the Black Panther sequel, thus, making the answer clearer that Ramonda’s death would push the story forward, as well as the other characters.
“That exploration of her journey and her journey with her mother — who has lost a son, who has lost her husband, and who is dealing with grief and trying to help Shuri through that grief — we felt like it would be tremendously impactful to Shuri, and obviously to the nation, for Ramonda to be lost in the flood. How Shuri pivots off of that, and how Wakanda will pivot. From there, it launches M’Baku. It launches our characters in new directions. Which is really wonderful.”
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is currently in theaters worldwide.
Also Read: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Post-Credits Scene Almost Featured More of Awesome New Character