Ironheart star Dominique Thorne once screen-tested alongside Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman, and some of the footage has now been released. Shared to social media by Twitter user MediaBRMN, the footage shows Thorne auditioning for the role of Shuri alongside Boseman, a role that was eventually won by Letitia Wright. You can check out the footage from the screen test below.
Putting on the same accent based on the Xhosa language that the inhabitants of Wakanda use, Thorne delivers several lines of dialogue from the first Black Panther, with Boseman effortlessly going from stoic to smiling thanks to the escapades of his “sister.” A sight that will have Marvel fans missing him even more.
Thorne had discussed auditioning for the role of Shuri in Black Panther before saying, “When the first one came out, where was I in my life? Man, I was accepting the fact that I didn’t get the role.” In fact, Thorne felt straight away that she had not been successful, adding, “I auditioned for Shuri in like, what– 2016, 2017. And that was the first time I met Ryan [Coogler], first time I met all the Marvel folks, for real. And I knew before I left that I didn’t get the audition, like I didn’t get the role. I was at Cornell at the time and I had also signed with these agents. It was the only agency that had wanted to meet with me, that respected the fact that I wanted to go to school."
Of course, her time with Marvel was far from over...
Dominique Thorne Joined the MCU as Ironheart in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
While Dominique Thorne missed out on the role of Shuri in the first Black Panther, she has now joined the MCU as Riri Williams, the brilliant young scientist who goes on to become the superhero Ironheart.
Introduced during the events of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which follows Queen Ramonda, Shuri, M’Baku, Okoye, and the Dora Milaje as they fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T’Challa’s death, Thorne plays a pivotal role and eventually creates a suit of armor that rivals the one built by Marvel legend Tony Stark aka Iron Man.
Riri Williams is expected to become a major player in the MCU and will next lead her own series on Disney+. Titled Ironheart, the show will find Dominique Thorne reprising the role of Williams and follow the exploits of Ironheart as she battles the villainous Parker Robbins, aka The Hood, played by In the Heights star Anthony Ramos. Ironheart is scheduled to premiere on Disney+ in late 2023 and will consist of six episodes as part of Phase Five of the MCU.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, meanwhile, stars a large ensemble cast that includes Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, Florence Kasumba, Dominique Thorne, Michaela Coel, Mabel Cadena, Martin Freeman, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Angela Bassett, and Tenoch Huerta Mejía as Namor the Submariner, and is now available to stream on Disney+.