Ryan Coogler has revealed that he completed a full draft of Black Panther 2 before Chadwick Boseman died — and that Boseman never got the chance to read it because his health had deteriorated. Speaking on Josh Horowitz’s “Happy Sad Confused” podcast, Coogler said he finished a 180-page script and sent it to Boseman, but “he was too sick to read it.”
Coogler said the abandoned version centered on T’Challa and his young son, built around a Wakandan rite called the “Ritual of 8,” in which a prince spends eight days in the wilderness with his father, with one rule: the child can ask any question and the father must answer. Coogler said Namor’s attack would have struck during that ritual, forcing T’Challa to face a dangerous threat while keeping his son at his side to avoid breaking tradition.
Boseman died in August 2020 at 43 after a private battle with colon cancer, a loss that forced Marvel and Coogler to rebuild the sequel from scratch. Coogler has previously described learning how long Boseman carried the illness as a shock, saying the actor shielded collaborators from his suffering. The revised film, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, released in 2022 and folded grief into the story rather than recasting King T’Challa.
Marvel’s decision not to replace Boseman has remained a flashpoint among fans who argue the character should continue for cultural reasons, while studio leaders and producers have said a quick recast felt wrong. Kevin Feige announced in 2020 that T’Challa would not be recast for the sequel, and producer Nate Moore later said the studio “just couldn’t do it.”
Coogler is now developing a third Black Panther film. In a separate podcast appearance this year, he said he has written a role for Denzel Washington, while Marvel has yet to formally announce the project.
