Ryan Coogler appeared on the Happy Sad Confused podcast during the ongoing awards season press tour for Sinners and revealed his original story plans for Black Panther 2. When lead actor Chadwick Boseman passed away from colon cancer in August 2020, the director was well into development on the sequel to his Oscar-winning 2018 blockbuster. Boseman’s tragic death forced Coogler to completely rethink the sequel and create what became 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Marvel fans who were wondering what Coogler originally had planned for Boseman’s return finally got an answer when Coogler told Happy Sad Confused host Josh Horowitz that the original Black Panther 2 script focused on the adventures of Boseman’s T’Challa and the character’s 8-year-old son. Namor, played by Tenoch Huerta in Wakanda Forever, remained the main villain.
“The biggest thing about the script was something called ‘Rite of Eight,’ where the eight-year-old prince has to spend eight days in the bush with his father,” Coogler said. “The rules are that during those eight days, the prince can ask his father any question, and the father must answer them. During those eight days, Namor launches an attack…He has to deal with a very dangerous person, but this… Because of the ritual, my son had to be chained at the waist the entire time, otherwise it would be a violation of this ritual that had never been broken. Chadwick was going to kill him, but life is what it is.”
Coogler acknowledged that he had completed this version of the Black Panther 2 script and contacted Boseman to read it, but that “he was too ill” to do so.
“He was in a place where that couldn’t happen,” the coach added. “Our relationship was very interesting. He meant a lot to me. But after he passed away, I learned from his family and his friends how much I meant to him. So I was pretty disappointed. Did he know how much he meant to me? I wondered. But I loved that script. I put a lot into that version of the movie because I felt like I got to know Chadwick as a performer. I had a lot to say to him in the first Panther, but I realized I was just hurting him.”It was a 180-page draft. ”
Coogler also revealed that he originally wanted to use Kraven the Hunter in the first Black Panther movie, but was prevented from doing so because the character is owned by Sony, not Disney.
“[I]wanted to base it on ‘Panther,’ played by Christopher Priest, and his story begins with Panther and Craven in the kitchen,” Coogler said. “That’s the first thing. Ross, Panther, and Kraven are fighting in the kitchen.”
“I’m a huge Spider-Man fan, especially Spider-Man: The Animated Series, and Kraven is in that. He’s a great character in the books,” Coogler continued. “We were like, ‘Yeah, can we have Craven in the movie?'” They were like, “We don’t think so, but let’s check.” So, they attacked Sony, and Sony was like, “Absolutely not.” They told me, “Oh, that’s impossible.” And I was like, “Okay.” ”
Sony would eventually produce its own Kraven the Hunter movie, starring director J.C. Chander and actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson in the title role, but it was a flop, grossing $62 million worldwide in December 2024.
Following the critical and commercial success of Sinners, Coogler is currently developing a third Black Panther film at Marvel Studios.
You can watch his full interview on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast in the video below.
