Last year, it was announced that production was temporarily shut down on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever after Letitia Wright—who plays Shuri in the Marvel Studios franchise—suffered injuries on the set of the sequel in August. However, filming is now back on track. Per BBC, a spokesperson for the actor confirmed she has recovered and production on the film is underway.
Though it was initially reported that Wright only sustained minor injuries while filming a scene involving a stunt rig, her injuries turned out to be far more severe than expected. Marvel execs Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, and Nate Moore released a statement in November, saying, “What we had initially thought were minor injuries turned out to be much more serious with Letitia suffering a critical shoulder fracture, and a concussion with severe side effects.”
After the actor left the set in August, filming continued with the cast shooting scenes that didn’t involve Wright. But, since the Black Panther star is said to have an even larger role in the sequel following Chadwick Boseman’s death, production briefly wrapped in November while the studio waited for Wright to recover.
Wakanda Forever is still set to hit theaters on November 11, 2022.
In December, The Hollywood Reporter first announced Marvel Studios’ plans to resume filming in January in its newsletter Heat Vision, citing anonymous sources close to the production.
That report came after rumors circling that besides taking time to recover from her injuries, Wright was leaving production due to her alleged refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. As The A.V. Club reported in November, with the CDC requiring non-citizen travelers to show proof of vaccination to travel to the United States, Wright—who was recovering from her injuries in London—could have faced difficulties being approved to go back to set if she was unvaccinated.