The following article contains spoilers for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, now in theaters.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever director and co-writer Ryan Coogler revealed how words of praise from the late Chadwick Boseman led to him choosing Shuri actor Letitia Wright as the MCU's new Black Panther.

Coogler revealed to The Hollywood Reporter that the idea came to him while watching footage from a Korean talk show where Boseman and co-stars Lupita Nyong'o and Michael B. Jordan, who respectively played Nakia and Erik Killmonger, were asked who the film's best character was. While Jordan and Nyong'o picked the characters they portrayed, Boseman picked Shuri, affectionately calling Wright his little sister and saying he had loved her since the day the two met.

RELATED: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Star Initially Objected to Their Character's Arc

"I was looking at that and I remembered the conversations Chadwick and I would have about Letitia all the way back when we were doing chemistry reads with actresses," Coogler added. "He really responded to her. And I realized that maybe we could build a film around her character since that was his favorite character." The filmmaker later said Wright has "big shoulders when it comes to acting" and can "hold a lot."

Making Wakanda Forever Without Chadwick Boseman

Wright herself commented on Boseman's absence from Wakanda Forever in 2020, saying, "[The cast and crew are] just still mourning Chad, so it's not something I even want to think about. The thought of doing it without him is kinda strange. We're just grieving at the moment, so it’s trying to find the light in the midst of it." Prior to this, Wright had given a eulogy for Boseman not long after his death from stage IV colon cancer that same year.

RELATED: Black Panther Star Shares Intense Underwater Training for Wakanda Forever

The MCU veteran would bring up the topic of doing Wakanda Forever without Boseman again earlier this year, remarking that imagining being on set without him was hard for her. "It was something I was battling for months," she continued. "The confidence that [Ryan Coogler] felt that he heard Chadwick just give him that gentle push forward, to continue. And the way that Ryan would express that it was bigger than all of us, and Chad would have wanted us to continue. That really encouraged me." In spite of the more somber feelings she had, Wright also discussed how Wakanda Forever honors Boseman, bringing up the commitment the cast and crew had regarding the franchise's story.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is now in theaters.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter