Black Panther: Wakanda Forever director Ryan Coogler addressed the rumors about Letitia Wright's anti-vax position, which reportedly delayed the film's shooting countless times.
In an interview with CinePOP, Coogler spoke about how the cast and crew of Wakanda Forever dealt with the anti-vax controversy. "As a family, we tried to block this so that we could work," he said. "As I say, we focus on what we can control. You know, the sad reality in this world is that people gossip, and that sometimes bad news flies faster than good news." Coogler went on to suggest that many people made up rumors revolving around the film's star. "And sometimes invented news travels faster than the truth," the director continued. "And most of the time people want to take the lowest common denominator, maybe a mistake or something that was misinterpreted, and they want to use that as an example, as if that's the most important thing about someone."
Anti-Vax Gossip and Black Panther 2
In September 2022, Deadline reporter Justin Knoll appeared on the podcast "The Town with Matt Belloni" to discuss Wright's alleged anti-vax position. According to Knoll, production on Wakanda Forever was "absolutely disrupted by some of the stuff [Wright did]," specifically her comments on the COVID-19 vaccine. He added that when Wright returned to the United Kingdom in November 2021 to continue work on the Black Panther sequel, her vaccination status made executives question "whether she could come back" to set at all, which was "a pain" for Marvel Studios.
In response to the rumors concerning Wright, Wakanda Forever's producer, Nate Moore, has claimed the negative media attention the actor received is unfair. He added that he never asked Wright or anybody else on the set whether they received the COVID-19 vaccine. "She never talked about her views either way," Moore claimed. "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."
Letitia Wright's Black Panther 2 Accident
While the claims that filming for the sequel was continuously delayed because of Wright's vaccination status only stem from rumors, Wakanda Forever did suffer a significant delay because of the actor's on-set accident. The incident would see Wright suffer a fractured shoulder and a concussion. In a recent interview, Wright revealed she is still in therapy for the injury. "I'm still processing it," she said. "I'm still working through it in therapy. It was really traumatic."
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is currently in theaters.
Source: CinePOP