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Black Panther 2's Designer Chose White To Honor Chadwick Boseman's Death


Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman died in August 2020 from battling colon cancer for four years. To pay tribute to his passing, as well as welcoming the next Black Panther for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Costume Designer Ruth E. Carter says White not only connects “us to tradition in Africa, it also pays tribute to Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman.”

“In the Ancestral Plane, when T’Challa wakes up and sees his father, he’s wearing white,” Ruth E. Carter, Black Panther's designer, shared on Variety at the Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s Youth of the Year Gala. “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.”

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The white color is meant to be ‘very specific and meaningful’ for the costume design. After all, white is meant to be a positive color, and commonly represents purity, light, and goodness in the media. The trailer pays tribute with a funeral for T'Challa and even shows the characters wearing full white while carrying Black Panther's mask in hand.

“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,” Carter explains without spoiling potential new wearer of the suit, “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.”

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“I took my first sewing class ever at the Boys & Girls Club. I remember that class because I tried cutting out a pattern without pinning it to the material. That was the first lesson that I learned — you have to pin it down.”

In storytelling, after all, it is crucial in ‘pinning down’ first what you wish to tell your audience. Without proper motive and intention, the story would fall apart without meaning. Hopefully, we get to see more of what Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has in store for us soon, now with Namor coming in as the new villain Wakanda has to face on their own.

Black Panther 2 is set to premiere on November 11.

Also Read: Black Panther 2 New Footage Shows T'Challa's Funeral


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