Returning to Wakanda brought several unprecedented challenges for the “Black Panther” cast and crew, including a severe injury involving franchise star Letitia Wright.
The British actor, who reprises her role as Princess Shuri, the onscreen sister of the late Chadwick Boseman, in Marvel’s follow-up “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” was hospitalized during production in late August 2021.
Wright was injured while filming a motorcycle sequence on location in Boston. The accident occurred when a stunt rig attached to the vehicle “clipped a median and sheared the bike off,” according to a wide-ranging Variety cover story, which provided new details about the incident.
Wright sustained a “fractured shoulder, a concussion and other injuries,” resulting in the production shutting down for the rest of the year while she recovered.
“I’m still processing it,” Wright told the outlet. “I’m still working through it in therapy. It was really traumatic.”
Director Ryan Coogler, who was working on the film’s set in Atlanta at the time, learned about the accident over the phone.
“It was about how you can imagine,” he recalled. “I mean, I love these actors. That’s me and Chad’s little sister. Imagine getting that call that your little sister’s hurt. It’s the fucking worst thing in the world.”
Marvel Studios Chief Kevin Feige called the incident “horrifying” and “particularly harsh” given how production on the sequel was already “emotionally strained.”
However, Wright was laser-focused on completing the sequel, telling Coogler from the hospital about just “wanting to finish my film.” The filmmaker encouraged her to recover as production shifted to shooting scenes with her character before eventually pausing for months.
Elsewhere in the Variety interview, Wright was less forthcoming about the controversy she ignited last December after sharing a video questioning the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine. She later deleted both her Twitter and Instagram accounts after receiving backlash over the video. Months later, a report claiming she was unvaccinated only raised further questions.
Wright has never directly shared her vaccination status but slammed the rumors that she spread her beliefs on the film’s set as “completely untrue.
“It’s not a question we asked of anybody, to be quite honest,” said producer Nate Moore. “She never talked about her views either way. We read the stories that I would argue were unfair because I don’t know where they’re coming from. As someone who literally is on set next to the monitor all the time, I feel like I would have heard it.”
Co-star Angela Bassett also shared that she “never heard Wright discuss vaccines while making the film.”
Per Variety, Wright refused to answer questions about the controversy during the interview and never responded to a subsequent email about her vaccination status due to unspecified “schedule changes.”
“I had great, great, great medical support, great patience on set. I’m just extremely proud of myself. I’m extremely proud of Ryan, of the team, for just the resilience — overcoming adversities every step of the way,” said Wright. “When I finished filming, I cried like a little baby.”