There is little doubt that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was perfect from start to finish. However, the Marvel Cinematic Universe sequel almost left out two important scenes right from the start. Director Ryan Coogler has revealed that he almost deleted key scenes that set the pace for the MCU flick.
In Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Queen Ramonda joins a United Nations meeting where she is urged to share vibranium. She counters that Wakanda refuses to share vibranium because they consider other nations to be a threat. It is then revealed that one of the Wakandan outreach facilities was attacked by mercenaries but was effectively defended by the Dora Milaje.
The scenes made it clear that Wakanda is fully capable of defending itself despite the death of King T'Challa. However, Ryan Coogler has confirmed in the film's audio commentary that he initially considered removing the scenes from the final cut (via The Direct).
"I'll tell y'all a secret that's funny. We were experimenting with all types of stuff with this movie. And at one point, we experimented with taking these two scenes out of the movie, like [the U.N. scene and the opening Dora Milaje action scene] here. And we were just talking like, 'Yeah, it'll work without it, 'cause X, Y, and, Z,'" Coogler said.
"And I remember I came in early at 6am to watch, because I just wanted to watch it down before we tested it with the scenes out. And we pressed play on it, and I was watching it, and it was just the worst movie ever, you know what I'm saying?" he continued.
"I was like, 'Oh, this is terrible.' At some point, I was standing up in the screening room completely alone, like 6:45 am, and I'm just calling on my phone, calling Nate [Moore], I'm calling everybody like, 'Yo, this is a mistake. We gotta fix this.' But it's a trip to understand how important these two scenes are for the movie to work," Coogler concluded.
We're glad Ryan Coogler changed his mind and kept the scenes in the film.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is now streaming on Disney+.
Related: Black Panther: Michael B. Jordan Shares How Wakanda Forever Cameo Was Kept A Secret
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