Exclusive: Black Panther Wakanda Forever star Lupita Nyong’o explains how the sequel will explore Nakia’s bond with Shuri and Ramonda more.
Lupita Nyong’o explains: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will explore more of Nakia’s connection to Letitia Wright’s Shuri and Angela Bassett’s Queen Ramonda. Nyong’o made her MCU debut in 2018 Black Panther as Wakanda’s agent who was a close ally to Chadwick Boseman’s titular hero. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will hit theaters November 11, after Wakanda and its leaders grapple with loss and the MCU debut of Tenoch Huerta’s Namor.
Introduced in Ryan Coogler’s hit 208 film, Nakia is a member of Wakanda’s Water Tribe and former lover of T’Challa, who had been serving as an undercover War Dog agent outside of Wakanda prior to the events of the film. When T’Challa is crowned after his father’s death, Nakia returns at the hero’s request, before urging him to use his new position to open Wakanda to the world through aid and outreach programs. Nakia would accompany T’Challa on his missions to arrest arms dealer Ulysses Klau (Andy Serkis), before later helping protect the rest of the royal family during Erik Killmonger’s (Michael B Jordan) succession to the throne. Nakia would help T’Challa once more in his battle against Killmonger for the throne, and he would later take her advice and start using Wakanda’s resources to help the world. Of Wakanda forever Nyong’o watched Nakia respond to both T’Challa’s passing and the many life-changing events of the MCU, and explained how the sequel would explore Nakia’s relationship with the other members of Wakanda’s royal family.
In an interview with screen frenzy forward Black Panther: Wakanda ForeverNyong’o, the theatrical release, explains how the sequel adds new depth to Nakia’s pre-existing relationships with both Shuri and Queen Ramonda after the loss of T’Challa. Nyong’o explains that Nakia has a family relationship with both members of the royal family, seeing both Shuri and Ramonda as her chosen family. Check out Nyong’o’s full answer below:
Nakia has a long-term relationship with Shuri and Ramonda. It’s just her in-laws. But she is also a sister figure of Shuri and a daughter figure of Ramonda. And they haven’t always been face to face, but there’s that love to belong that they have; a loyalty to each other. And families, we can argue, but we are still very intertwined, and this is her chosen family.
How Black Panther 2’s Changes Affect Nakia’s Relationships
Of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever taking place at the same time as other movies like Thor: Love and Thunder after the Blip, the world has changed in many ways for both the cast of Black Panther and Wakanda herself. Black Panther concluded with T’Challa following Nakia’s suggestions by revealing Wakanda’s true potential to the world and establishing outreach centers. As someone who contributed to this change in the policies of the countries, Wakanda forever Nakia could trade her undercover assignments to help maintain these initiatives as a leader who could shape the future of the provinces along with the royal family and Jabari tribe leader M’Baku (Winston Duke). As such, Wakanda forever can see Nakia make decisions that could change Wakanda’s trajectory not only after Namor’s rise, but also after the threat from parties from around the world who may want to forcibly claim Wakanda’s resources.
Of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever to explore the impact of T’Challa’s death on those closest to him, Nakia’s journey promises to become one of the film’s main focuses. During 2018 Black PantherNakia’s interactions with T’Challa were inspired by romantic comedies, where they used their on-again, off-again, off-again relationship to portray two individuals who may not be together at the time of the film, yet share a close bond. With Nyong’o highlighting Nakia’s relationship with Shuri and Ramonda, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever promises not only to potentially provide more insight into how she saw T’Challa, but also to show how families can unite in times of hardship.
