Black Panther Blu-Ray Includes Okoye/W'Kabi Bonus Scene

Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Black Panther.

Black Panther is getting at least one bonus scene on home video. The long-awaited film finally hit theaters after spending years stuck in development hell, and it's breaking virtually every record in the book - both critically and commercially. Black Panther is Rotten Tomatoes' highest-rated movie ever, and it's now directly challenging Star Wars: The Force Awakens' box office records. And while the movie tells an exceptionally well-constructed story, there are parts that could've used some more screen-time.

As per usual with most blockbuster films, Black Panther started out with an assembly cut that had a run-time far exceeding its theatrical cut. Originally, Black Panther ran at over four hours in length. Of course, the editing team whittled down that cut to just over 2 hours 14 minutes in order to meet an appropriate run-time. While most scenes were cut because they were considered extraneous, there's one scene, in particular, that the creative team wanted to keep in.

In an interview with Empire, Black Panther producer Nate Moore reveals the one scene that he and director Ryan Coogler wanted to keep in but felt it didn't jive well with the story's flow. Still, he promises that it will be available to watch on the film's home release.

"There is one scene, in particular, that I think everybody on the film probably is sad to see go - that you will see in the bonus materials - which is a very, very powerful, very well-acted scene between Okoye and W'Kabi. So, in the film, it's more than hinted at that they are a couple, but there was a scene directly after Killmonger takes the throne where you hear both characters articulate their point-of-view as to why they should or shouldn't follow this guy. And it's one of the most well-acted scenes I've ever been a part of."

In Black Panther, Okoye (Danai Gurira) and W'Kabi (Daniel Kaluuya) fall on opposite sides of Killmonger's (Michael B. Jordan) usurpation. While Okoye acknowledges that it's her duty to protect and obey whoever sits upon Wakanda's throne, W'Kabi is driven by more personal reasons. After all, Killmonger is the one that brought W'Kabi the man who murdered his father, Klaw (Andy Serkis). As previously mentioned, Moore said that the scene was cut because it didn't work well at that point in the story.

"Unfortunately, it occurred at a point in the movie where audiences just wanted to get to the resolution. And so, it slowed down a part of the movie that we were afraid audiences were checking out. We were also afraid if we took it out we were going to ruin [the] movie. So we didn't take it out for three or four screenings, and we finally took it out. And I think Ryan and I were probably the last men on that beach saying, 'Don't take it out but let's try it!' And, boy, did it not affect the viewing. In fact, I think it helped people enjoy the film more."

Since the film just released in theaters, it's unclear it will hit home video, but that hasn't stopped Marvel/Disney from already revealing Black Panther's SteelBook cover art. Considering how well the movie is performing at the box office, it's safe to say that it will stay in theaters for quite some time.

More: Black Panther: Was Killmonger The Rightful King of Wakanda?

Source: Empire