Black Panther 2 filming shut down until 2022 over Letitia Wright injury

Filming on the Black Panther sequel, Wakanda Forever, has temporarily shut down this week, in response to an injury suffered by star Letitia Wright a few months ago. Filming on the follow-up to Ryan Coogler’s 2018 hit is expected to resume some time in early 2022.

Wright suffered her injury on set in Boston earlier this year, during a shot involving a stunt rig. Coogler and his crew have thus spent the last two months filming basically every scene in the movie that doesn’t require her presence; the sudden death of Chadwick Boseman last year—combined with the fandom’s love for her character, Shuri—has elevated Wright’s position in the franchise, so there’s obviously only so much Coogler can get done without her.

Wakanda Forever is currently set to land in theaters almost exactly a year from now, on November 11, 2022. The film has a lot of expectations riding on it, thanks largely to the success of Coogler’s first movie, which brought in $1.34 billion at the box office, along with a healthy heaping of rave reviews—including for Wright’s performance.

In addition to Wright, the film will see the return of stars Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Winston Duke, and Angela Bassett. The film is also expected to introduce Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams, a genius inventor who has starred in Marvel’s Iron Man comics as new character Ironheart, and Michaela Coel in an undisclosed role.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, Wright’s team issued a statement today: “Letitia has been recovering in London since September from injuries sustained on the set of Black Panther 2 and is looking forward to returning to work early 2022. Letitia kindly asks that you keep her in your prayers.”

Per THR, Marvel previously believed that it wouldn’t need to delay the film; Wright’s injury has presumably taken longer to recover from than the studio was anticipating.