Lupita Nyong’o is mourning the loss of her friend and co-star Chadwick Boseman as she prepares to film Black Panther 2 this summer.
The Us and 12 Years a Slave actress, 38, talked with Ellen DeGeneres this week about the pain of losing Boseman as she aims to begin filming the sequel to the Marvel movie.
“He led the movie with such compassion and just presence. When Chadwick came on set, he was present, and he brought his entire being to that movie. He was just so humble as well. That leadership will be missed. And he was my friend, so it’s hard to think of him in the past tense,” she shared.
“I do know for certain that he would want us to do this,” she added. “I feel that what [director] Ryan Coogler has planned very much honors him and his legacy. So I feel good about going back.”
There can be no replacement for Chadwick Boseman
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige spoke earlier this year to Deadline about the loss of Boseman and how the franchise had no plans to replace him either digitally or with another actor.
“So much of the comics and that first movie is the world of Wakanda. Wakanda is a place to further explore with characters and different subcultures. This was always and initially the primary focus of the next story. We’re not going to have a CG Chadwick and we’re not recasting T’Challa,” said Feige.
He added: “Ryan Coogler is working very hard right now on the script with all the respect and love and genius that he has, which gives us great solace, so it was always about furthering the mythology and the inspiration of Wakanda. There’s also the task of honoring and respecting the ongoing learnings and teachings from Chad as well.”
Boseman passed away on August 28th of 2020, at age 43, after a private and lengthy battle with colon cancer. The news of his death shocked fans and fellow actors alike as Boseman had kept his diagnosis quiet from most of the acting world.
Boseman’s long-time agent, Michael Greene, talked about the actor in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in the fall of 2020 and said Boseman’s mother was the main reason behind the actor’s decision to keep his personal health issues to himself.
Chadwick Boseman was led by his mother’s values
“(Carolyn Boseman) always taught him not to have people fuss over him. He also felt in this business that people trip out about things, and he was a very, very private person.”
Boseman’s wife, Simone Ledward Boseman, accepted posthumous awards for her late husband during this year’s awards ceremonies. The actor won a SAG award for Male Actor in a Leading Role for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and was honored again with a Golden Globe for Actor in a Drama Motion Picture for the same movie.
The star was also honored at the NAACP Image Awards, where Simone tearfully accepted his award.
“As always, he would give all honor and glory to the most high God. He would thank his mom and dad, and he would give honor to the ancestors as we now honor him. Thank you, NAACP Image Awards, for always giving him his flowers. He was an uncommon artist and an even more uncommon person. But the manner in which we lost him is not uncommon at all. Not in our community.”
Black Panther 2 is set to begin filming this summer with a release date of July 8th, 2022.