Chadwick Boseman Was Training in Mexico For 'Black Panther 2' Before His Death

While promoting his new film 'Sinners,' director Ryan Coogler revealed that the late 'Black Panther' star, Chadwick Boseman, had begun preparation in Mexico for his role in the sequel.

Coogler, the director of 'Black Panther' and its sequel 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' revealed that he had told Boseman about his idea for the sequel to hit Marvel film on the Straw Hat Goofy podcast.

"One of the last times we linked up in person... I started talking to him about [Black Panther 2] and what the story was going to be. I actually walked him through the whole plot," Coogler revealed.

The plot for the film, which ended up being produced after Boseman's passing, revolved around the fictional country of Wakanda going to war with a forgotten, underwater Mesoamerican civilization of superhumans, led by the powerful Namor, played by Mexican actor Tenoch Huerta Mejía.

According to Coogler, months after showing the film to Boseman's widow, Simone, and his best friend, Logan Cole, he was texted a video from Cole of Boseman working out at the pyramids at Tenochtitlan in Mexico.

Coogler said, "Months later, I get a text from [Cole]... and I open it up and it's Chadwick in Mexico at... Tenochtitlan... [Boseman] was an elite martial artist, and he's doing all his workouts, and you can hear the Aztec flutes in the distance... And [Cole] says 'I just realized today that Chadwick took all of us on a trip to Mexico right after the film was done...' And he said he didn't realize until after watching the movie that he was practicing. He was getting ready for the script that I had told him about."

Boseman's passing in 2020 from colon cancer shocked the world as he had decided to keep his years-long struggle with cancer a secret to all outside of his close inner circle. Coogler, along with Marvel, decided not to recast Boseman but have his character die in the opening of the second film, with the title of Black Panther being passed to the character's sister, Shuri.

The events of the film play out as T'Challa/Black Panther's family is processing and grieving his passing.

The story shows how dedicated Boseman was to his craft and his passion for the character of T'Challa/Black Panther. He took his friends and family to Mexico based on an idea from his director almost immediately after finishing the film, ready to get back to work on the sequel.

You can watch the full clip here.