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Black Panther star Lupita Nyong'o is opening up about how she and her fellow castmates grieved late colleague Chadwick Boseman as they filmed the highly-anticipated Marvel sequel.
As the trailer for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever debuted on Saturday (July 23), Nyong'o reflected on the difficulties of making the sequel following Boseman's 2020 death.
"For us as a cast, having lost our king, Chadwick Boseman, that was a lot to process, and in many ways, we're still processing it," Nyong'o told the Hollywood Reporter at San Diego's Comic-Con. "When you lose someone, I don't know when you stop missing them. And of course, we felt it so much, making this film without him."
Nyong'o called the years since Boseman lost his battle to colon cancer "a doozy," but noted that she was "very proud" of the sequel that was filmed "against all odds."
"It was very therapeutic," she said. "It restored a sense of hope for me in making it, and I think we've expanded the world of Wakanda in ways that will blow people's minds — not just Wakanda, but the Black Panther world. It's gonna blow people's minds, and I just cannot wait until it's not a secret anymore."
Per Variety, fellow castmate Danai Gurira got as emotional as she admitted that she "never knew when it was just gonna be a really hard day" on set as they grieved the loss of Boseman.
While filming, new cast members added to the sequel "held [them] up" through hard days, Guirira said.
On Saturday, the trailer for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever teased appearances from Nyong'o's character Nakia and Letitia Wright as Shuri.
A synopsis for the sequel says characters "must fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T'Challa's death," per People.
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