Black Panther: Wakanda Forever costumes honor Chadwick Boseman, designer says

Black Panther was praised a lot for its production values. Everyone loved the visuals, the music, and the production design. But, Ruth E. Carter’s work on the costumes took precedence as it highlighted cultural references and beliefs of African people. For her work on the film, Carter won an Academy Award for Best Costume Design. And now she is back, intending to leave a similar impact with the sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

While speaking to Variety, Ruth E. Carter shared her experience working on Wakanda Forever. For her, the sequel was not just about upgrading the concept of ‘Afrofuturism’ but also honoring the legacy of King T’Challa and Chadwick Boseman. Carter explains how the color ‘White’ was meaningful to achieve that purpose. She says,

White was very specific and meaningful” for the costume design. White not only connects “us to tradition in Africa.

Speaking about how White honors Chadwick, Carter added,

In the Ancestral Plane, when T’Challa wakes up and sees his father, he’s wearing white. White is a color that’s worn in a lot of funerals in Africa — it’s either bright red or it’s white — and we chose white because it connects us to Chadwick, to T’Challa.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will feature a new Black Panther for Wakanda. The trailer revealed the first look of the new Black Panther costume, worn by a female character. Everyone guessed that Shuri would take on the mantle, but Marvel Studios has kept quiet.

The featured costume is a combination of silver and gold with visible futurism elements visible on the mask. Speaking of the new design, Carter said,

There was a very careful study of how do we make this person a superhero without changing them so much — that it’s not believable as them, avoiding any reference to who is donning the costume. This one has silver and gold elements [while] our beloved Chadwick Boseman’s suit was all silver, so that already made it a lot more glamorous for the wearer.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will feature a story focusing on the country’s new volatile status after the death of its king. Wakanda will come into the battle with Talocan, ruled by Namor, thus bringing forth a massive conflict of science and magic. However, the film may hide a secret antagonist amidst all the chaos.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is slated to release on November 11, 2022, and will be the last feature film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase Four.

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Article Credit: Abhishek Sharma/Movieweb.com