Danai Gurira Describes Her Prep For Black Panther 2's Big Battle

With the film right around the corner, Danai Gurira opens up about her preparation for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever's big battle. Following the untimely death of King T'Challa/Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), Wakanda wrestles with the pain and loss of its leader and struggles to continue its new outreach mission. However, with a new threat at the fictional nation's gates, the people of Wakanda must work together and combat the forces of Talokan, an ancient underwater city led by the mutant Namor the Sub-Mariner (Tenoch Huerta).

The final Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase Four film will see the return of many characters from its popular 2018 predecessor, Black Panther, including Shuri (Letitia Wright), M'Baku (Winston Duke), Nakia (Lupita Nyong'o), Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), and Okoye (Gurira), the leader of the Dora Milaje, Wakanda's all-female special forces. Okoye made her MCU debut in Black Panther and proved a crucial ally to T'Challa in all of the film's major battles. She returned for Avengers: Infinity War, where she teamed up with the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) to take on Thanos' lieutenant, Proxima Midnight (Carrie Coon), and later Avengers: Endgame to take on Thanos himself to restore the lives Thanos took with the Infinity Stones.

Screen Rant was in attendance of a recent press event where Gurira recalled her intense preparation for a major battle in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The actor detailed the months-long process behind choreographing a fight with Alex Livinalli, who portrays the Talocan warrior Attuma. She also gives thanks to the stunt and physical training team who helped her get into shape for the action sequences. Read what Gurira said below:

It was a bigger ask, and I'm trying to understand why. It was a lot of work, and thank God it was Alex [I was fighting against]. He's a big guy, but he's so nice. You know he's not gonna really hurt me. But it was a lot of work, and the beauty of it is you're seeing how we had to find the psychology in it, and you're working together. There's a lot of storytelling that has to go into the story being told. I'm one of those people who from day one is like, "Show me my fight. Show me my fight, so I can learn it now." And they're like, "Ryan's got to approve it," so then I go, "Okay, Ryan, go look at it!" C'mon, guys! Watching him work with the astounding fight team, and the way they came up with it, was really watching the craft in a whole other way. And then I'm like, "Okay, so I got to do that?" Then it's that process, and that was months' worth of work. But the wonderful thing is working with Alex and the other Talocan was just an amazing, collaborative process. There were some little issues going on sometimes; my shoulder was like, "What are you doing to me, man? What you trying to do here?" So, thank God for astounding PT. Gotta give my love and thanks to the women of NeuroSport. It was a very intricate process, and I'm just thankful for the team we had.

How Epic Will The Fights Against Talocan Be?

Okoye leading the Dora Milaje in Black Panther

The action set pieces and fight scenes in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever are sure to be unlike anything the MCU has featured before. Trailers have showcased Wakandan forces battling Namor's army of underwater soldiers who are aided in combat by various ocean creatures. These scenes have drawn comparisons to DC Universe's Aquaman starring Jason Momoa as the titular superhero. However, a large portion of the fight scenes have been shown taking place on land with Namor bringing the sea to Wakanda, flooding its streets, destroying homes and markets, and drowning the royal throne room.

As Wakanda fights for their survival on home soil against a previously unknown enemy, they will harbor a fear of absolute loss that will fuel their resolve when protecting their country. With their backs pressed against a wall, the Wakandans will probably fight with an intense ferocity, likely creating some of the most brutal battles the franchise has ever seen. However, audiences do not have to wait much longer to see Okoye and the Dora Milaje take on Namor when Black Panther: Wakanda Forever premieres November 11.

Next: Marvel Is Right To Wait On Black Panther 3