In 2018, Marvel Studios, director Ryan Coogler, and the cast of Black Panther changed what it means to make a superhero movie. But before the sequel was shot, Black Panther himself, legendary actor Chadwick Boseman died of cancer and the cast (and fans) had to reckon with that loss. According to early press surrounding the film's sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, out of the cast and crew's grief rose an impossible film that celebrates both the late actor and the late king. Now, Wakanda Forever is about two months away from its premiere, and we are getting our first look at that film with the debut of the Empire cover and the first official stills of the film released to the press.

The new issue of Empire will dive into the film with interviews from Ryan Coogler and his cast. The entertainment magazine spoke to the women of Wakanda: Letitia Wright, who plays Shuri and maybe the new Black Panther, Lupita Nyong'o, who plays Nakia, Danai Gurira, who plays Okoye, and Angela Bassett, who plays Queen Ramonda and a woman who showed the UN who's the boss in the D23 clip. Also interviewed for the article were Winston Duke, who plays M'Baku, and newcomers Dominique Thorne, who is Ironheart, and Tenoch Huerta, who is Namor, as well producer Nate Moore and Marvel Head Boss in Charge Kevin Feige.

Cast Talks About the Weight of Doing a Script with Chadwick Boseman

Before Boseman's death, Coogler had already worked up a sequel idea to his 2018 film and shared it with some members of the cast, including Nyong'o. The Nakia actress told Empire that in the wake of the actor's death, Coogler created a film that honored by T'Challa and Chadwick Boseman himself, saying:

I didn’t have doubts – I had dread. Ryan had walked me through what the film was going to be when Chadwick was still alive. And so once we lost him, the thought that we could go on, it was just unfathomable to me. What Ryan ended up sharing with me was just so utterly truthful and beautiful. By the end of it, I was in tears.

The rest of the Empire interviews will be available later this month when the magazine hits newsstands. The cover features Wright’s Shuri, Bassett’s Queen Ramonda, and Huerta’s Namor, who are ready to usher in a new age of Wakanda. Check it out below: