‘Black Panther 2’: Letitia Wright opens up about the traumatic set accident, says ‘I’m still processing it’
‘Black Panther 2’ star Letitia Wright recently opened up about her ‘traumatic’ accident at the sets of `Black Panther: Wakanda Forever`.
According to Variety, Wright is still in therapy processing the ‘traumatic’ accident that happened to her on the $250 million Marvel tentpole set. The actor was injured in late August 2021 after a set accident involving a motorcycle sent her to the hospital with a fractured shoulder and a concussion, among other injuries.
As per the report of Variety, the accident happened on the Boston set of ‘Wakanda Forever.’ Wright was filming a pursuit scene in which she was mounted on a ‘biscuit rig,’ allowing the camera to capture her riding a motorcycle in a real setting. The rig “clipped a median and cut the bike off, and it tumbled,” according to the film`s producer Nate Moore, with Wright on it.
“I`m still processing it,” Wright told Variety about the accident. “I`m still working through it in therapy. It was really traumatic.” Wright was working with the second unit crew on the Boston set of the movie, so neither Moore nor the movie`s director, Ryan Coogler, were there when the accident happened.
On the `Wakanda Forever` main set, the two men were once again in Atlanta. Wright`s mishap had to be announced to Coogler over the phone.”It was about how you can imagine,” Coogler said about getting the call as quoted by Variety.
“I mean, I love these actors. That`s me and Chad`s little sister. Imagine getting that call that your little sister`s hurt. It`s the fucking worst thing in the world.” Coogler and Marvel Studios present Kevin Feige travelled to Boston to visit Wright in the hospital.
“It was horrifying on any production happening to anybody,” Feige said in a statement quoted by Variety. “It was particularly harsh on this production that was already, uh….emotionally strained.” Feige was referring to Wright`s injuries at the time as only the most recent production issue for “Wakanda Forever.”
Following the passing of original “Black Panther” star Chadwick Boseman, the entire film had to be remade. Wright was adamant about finishing the film as a memorial to her deceased co-star, and she wasn`t going to allow her injuries to stand in the way of that.”I just remember wanting to finish my film, man,” Wright said about Feige and Coogler`s hospital visit. “I think that was one of the first things I said to Ryan. And he was like, `Tish, you need to recover.`”
According to Variety, Wright left Boston and made his way back to London to rest. In November 2021, it was decided that she needed more time to recover, and `Wakanda Forever` production was stopped. In January 2022, the cameras once again began to roll. When filming resumed, Wright said he was still dealing with post-concussion syndrome.