BLACK PANTHER 2 Actor Martin Freeman Says Director Ryan Coogler's Pitch for His Character Was "Very Odd"
Fans have been anticipating the sequel to Black Panther ever since it hit screens in 2018. But since the sudden passing of star Chadwick Boseman, we’ve all wondered what direction the sequel would take, or if there would even be one. Now we know that director Ryan Coogler is coming back to further the story, and all we know so far is that the sequel will be titled Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Returning Black Panther star Martin Freeman, who played Agent Everett K. Ross in the original, has confirmed that he will be back for the film, but a recent interview revealed that he’s not quite sure of the direction his character will be taking. While appearing on The Late Late Show with James Corden (via ScreenRant), Freeman was asked if he could reveal anything about the upcoming movie. He said:
“I had a Zoom call with Ryan Coogler, the director and co-writer, about seven or eight weeks ago, I suppose, and he sort of meticulously took me through all of my character’s beats in the film. He took me through the film, but incorporating my character’s beats. And some of it was really [laughs], some of it was, like, very odd. And I think he could see by the reaction on my face, some of the things he was saying…He kept sort of stopping and going, ‘I can see where–’, he kept on saying, ‘Stay with me, but this is going to work.'”
So it sounds like the film’s story is going to take some risks and have some unexpected surprises. This makes sense, as they are going to have to make some big changes to the original plan after the loss of Boseman. Freeman went on to talk about losing the film’s star, and hoping they do him justice:
“When Chadwick passed last year, and after the initial shock of that – it was just an appalling thing to find out – the next thing was, ‘Okay, so I guess we’re not doing – that film won’t or can’t happen again.’ So Marvel came to us reasonably shortly afterwards and said, ‘Obviously this is a dreadful thing, but we’re going to go on.’ So that was the plan from a while ago. Obviously the hope is that we do the first film justice and we do Chadwick’s legacy on it justice and we make a good film.”
I have a lot of faith in Coogler and MCU president Kevin Feige, who has brought us a lot of beautiful characters and stories so far. I am really looking forward to this movie, and I can’t wait to see where the story leads. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever arrives in theatres on July 8th, 2022.