The sensationalism that accompanied Black Panther: Wakanda Forever can hardly be described in lesser emotions than words. The cast and crew of the MCU Phase Four film surpassed in their incredulous achievement on screen and pulled off a movie that is nothing short of a miracle. Even though the perfectly rounded narrative falls short of nothing in its execution, it is in the fate of great works of art to always be perceived as incomplete in the eyes of its creator.
And so, a version of Black Panther 2 now sits in the Marvel Studios vault that voices a lengthier narrative and essentially highlights Ryan Coogler’s vision of what the film looks like in its unrestricted potential.
Nate Moore Reveals Details of Black Panther 2 Director’s Cut
In an interview with Collider, Marvel Studios VP of Production and Development, Nate Moore discloses a few insider secrets about the recent MCU phenomenon, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. While speaking to Steven Weintraub, Moore reveals that there were a handful of scenes that stayed behind in the editorial room. Speaking of these deleted shots, he says:
“[There are] more than two, less than 10 [deleted scenes]? No, there’s some great stuff. A lot of characters have scenes that are great scenes that the movie just couldn’t bear. It’s already a relatively long movie, and we wanted to make sure the movie felt as focused as it could, while doing as much as it’s doing. But there are some deleted scenes that are really cool.”
Speaking of the compilation that remained on the cutting room’s floor, the VP also discloses his wish to have them available for the audience someday.
“I think there’s a spectrum. There’s some from the Director’s Cut that didn’t make it forward… we like to think [that] we and the filmmakers landed on what the movie should be. So, I don’t know that we’ll ever assemble it – I’ll never say never. I don’t think we’ll assemble it into a longer Director’s Cut. But certainly, I think there’s ways to get those scenes out there in the world without building an extended edition.”
However, even as he speaks of making the extended cut available for the audience, Moore houses a repulsion toward the direct-to-streaming aspect of movie releases that the industry has been witnessing in recent times. In response to whether Marvel too plans on making the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Director’s Cut available on their partner platform Disney+, Nate Moore claims, “we’ve typically resisted that, and I think we’ll continue to.”
Most famously, Zack Snyder’s Justice League which was released on HBO Max after a long wait and numerous controversies managed to evoke a wave of sympathy and support from the DC fandom. Hopefully, Ryan Coogler’s version of a final cut doesn’t lose itself in the bottomless vaults of the studio’s cutting room and finds a platform for the audience to reach.
Ryan Coogler’s Vision of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
The story of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is one that lies beyond the structures of a Marvel comic adaptation. The Ryan Coogler-directed sequel somehow perfectly balances the grief and tragedy of Chadwick Boseman‘s passing, honors his unforgettable legacy, gives voice to the conflict between Wakanda and Talocan, brings in Namor and Riri Williams as formidable players, and places Shuri as the successor to both T’Challa and the Black Panther. And Coogler does all of this while already dreading and striving to live up to the hype left behind by 2018’s Black Panther.
The unquantifiable difficulties — COVID-19, Letitia Wright controversies, stunt injuries — that then follow in the wake of the film’s production latch on to Ryan Coogler’s dreams like a looming haunting shadow. Multiple script revisions, processing the bouts of trauma, and 4 years later, a completed project makes its way to the theatres around the globe that leaves its audience in tears but somehow healed, speechless yet satisfied, and most of all, grateful for what Chadwick Boseman inadvertently gifted to the world in his final years.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is currently out in theatres.
Source: Collider
