Details on twoBlack Pantherdeleted scenes have been revealed. Editor Michael Shawver has worked with director Ryan Coogler for five years and they continued that collaboration onBlack Panther, which has become one of Marvel Studios' biggest hits to date. It’s also one of the longest, clocking in at 2 hours and 12 minutes as is. But some powerful and important scenes still wound up on the cutting room floor. Now, two of those scenes, which will be included on the home video release of the movie, have been revealed by Shawver.
The firstdeleted scenefurther explores the relationship between Danai Gurira’sOkoyeand Daniel Kaluuya’s W’Kabi. It’s made clear inBlack Pantherthat the two have a relationship, but it isn’t explored all that much. This particular scene that Michael Shawver describes would have come shortly after Michael B. Jordan’s Killmonger takes control of Wakanda from Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa. Here’s what he had to say about it.
“Hands down the most painful scene to cut was [one] with Danai Gurira and Daniel Kaluuya. Toward the end, after things go bad andKillmonger[Michael B. Jordan] is in control and all that, we’re talking about, what are they going to do? What is Wakanda going to become? Those are two powerhouse actors and it was an incredible scene with so many layers to it, boyfriend and girlfriend, it was general and her advisor, all those things. That was painful.”
It’s not totally uncommon for big movies likeBlack Pantherto have worthy scenes like this cut for time. As for why this scene was cut? Michael Shawver says you “have your finger on the pulse of what the audience is feeling. At that point in the movie, it’s about two thirds through, and that’s when most movies drag. Ours was taking a while to get to that point.” The other scene he describes would have provided more context forT’Challa’s relationshipwith Forest Whittaker’s Zuri. Their relationship is an important one in the movie, but this particular scene would have added a bit more to it.
“There’s a scene between Chadwick and Forest’s characters which sets up their relationship. It sort of lets you attach yourself to their father-son dynamic so that later on in the film … you really feel more.”
Considering an early cut of the movie reportedlyclocked in at nearly four hours, there’s probably quite a bit of worthy footage that didn’t make the final cut. Luckily, those who want to actually see these scenes for themselves will get the chance whenBlack Pantherarrives on Blu-ray/DVD, though, the release date hasn’t been announced yet. Not having these scenes in the movie clearly didn’t hurt anything, asBlack Pantherrecently crossed the $1 billion mark at the worldwide box office. Not only that, but Disney is already planning an Oscar campaign forBlack Panthernext year. This news comes to us courtesy ofThe Wrap.
