He explained that, when they premiered footage from the first film at the conference in 2017, “sitting beside me directly to my left was our great T’Challa, the late, late Chadwick Boseman.”
“The actors, including Chad, they haven’t seen the footage yet, so when we were filming it, he was right next to me and he was so excited,” he continued. “He grabbed my left shoulder with his hand and, if you’ve ever seen Chadwick with his own eyes, he’s got these huge hands. They’re huge; that’s part of the reason why he’s wearing the suit. Panther is very good.”
And they seem to have packed a serious punch.
“He was really, really strong and he got excited as the clip went on and on and on and on and on and on, he just pressed down on my shoulder the whole time,” Coogler joked about Boseman. “When it came out, he said, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s amazing! Congratulations!’ And I can’t even lift my arm.”
The moment left a deep impression – literally – on the director. “I felt his hand for the rest of the day for a few hours,” he said. “Standing here with all of you right now — listening to those artists and thinking about it all — I promise you I can feel his hand on me right now. hours.”
Coogler added: “Chad is no longer with us physically, but his spirit, his passion, his genius, his pride and culture and his impact on the industry. will be felt forever.” “We put our love for Chadwick into this film.”
Watch the trailer for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever below.
