While the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role may have gone to Everything Everywhere All at Once's Jamie Lee Curtis, Angela Bassett was a strong contender for her role as Queen Ramonda in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Even given the events of the film, Marvel Studios would be foolish not to keep her around, making Queen Ramonda perfect for a prequel movie like Black Widow.
Of course, Queen Ramonda died in the second act of Wakanda Forever, making a sequel out of the question. Her death in the film was a tragic but necessary event for the growth of the two main heroes. Okoye has to live with the guilt of Queen Ramonda banishing her. Shuri lost both her parents to murder and her brother to a disease she couldn't outsmart. Yet, Angela Bassett has embodied the Marvel Queen she portrays. In fact, the Ramonda of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a bigger, better character than her comics counterpart. Marvel Studios is in a bit of a crisis, with MCU fans not realizing how good they have it. Even though Bassett didn't win the Oscar, Marvel would be foolish to let her go.
A Black Panther Prequel Can Bring a Missing Comics Element to Queen Ramonda's Story
In large part due to Angela Bassett, Queen Ramonda is a more imposing and powerful character in the MCU than in the comics. There, she rescued T'Challa as a boy and then ended up marrying T'Chaka. She wasn't royalty or a superhero, but she was on a quest. She fought against apartheid, the racist system of laws and policies that governed South Africa until 1991. With Wakanda's policy of non-intervention, the nation simply let this happen despite being able to stop it. A prequel movie to Wakanda Forever, or even a Disney+ series starring Queen Ramonda could tackle that story.
The MCU has incorporated real-life history into its stories before. The Ms. Marvel series, for example, incorporated the partition of India and Pakistan into its story. Even though there were superheroes present for the events, they couldn't save the day. A Wakanda Forever prequel story around Queen Ramonda and apartheid set in the 1970s or 1980s could work in a similar way. The story could highlight the real-life issue, expand the history of Wakanda and even further justify their non-interventionist policy. It presents a great way to develop the Pan-African corner of the universe. The film could also include a young T'Chaka as the Black Panther.
Due to the untimely passing of Chadwick Boseman, the stories of Wakanda are now largely the stories of its women. Okoye might be getting a series on Disney+. Shuri and Nakia will presumably both be back in future films. There is no reason just yet to say goodbye to Queen Ramonda, especially when a prequel story could be used to deepen her relationship with her grandson, T'Challa II.
A Prequel Story Can Highlight Ramonda's Influence on the Next Black Panther
Marvel Studios is not above using de-aging visual effects for an entire film. It did so with Samuel L. Jackson for his performance as Nick Fury in Captain Marvel. That said, it could recast the role with a younger actor for Ramonda in the flashback sequences while including Bassett and young T'Challa as a story-framing device. In order to keep T'Challa's son a secret in Wakanda Forever, viewers don't see Ramonda bonding with her grandson. Their time together is implied. A prequel movie could show audiences some of that time, and the film's story could be a lesson for her grandson.
Marvel could even franchise this with some kind of sci-fi, vibranium-powered hologram for future movies. There is nothing in Black Panther or Wakanda Forever that suggests Ramonda couldn't have had an active life outside of Wakanda, even without powers. Nakia, for example, was a Wakandan spy but mostly spent her time helping people who didn't have the benefit of the Black Panther's protection. The movie wouldn't just be some cynical way to get Angela Bassett's name on the marquee again. Done right, the story could deepen fans' appreciation of the character, inform the future of the franchise and educate a new generation about history the world wants to forget.
The beauty of comics is that death is never the "end" for a character. Most of the original Avengers are gone for good, but with the multiverse and Avengers: Secret Wars, some might come back for a victory lap. Queen Ramonda's character is dead in the present-day story, and her death serves a narrative purpose. But Marvel Studios should find a way to keep casting Bassett as long as she keeps saying "Yes."