"Utter disappointment": Letitia Wright's rumored vaccine views spark fan fury, casts shadow over Black Panther 2

Letitia Wright as Shuri in Black Panther (Image via Marvel Studios)

Ever since December 2020, Letitia Wright has been at the center of a controversy over her seemingly anti-vax tweets. Furthermore, rumors about Wright being unvaccinated on the set of Black Panther 2 were cited as the reason behind the delay during production. Additionally, she was also injured while filming.

The 28-year-old actress, who plays T’Challa’s sister Shuri in the MCU, has not publicly revealed her vaccination status. However, as per reports from The Hollywood Reporter and Newsweek, Letitia Wright remains unvaccinated as of last month.

Last July, AMPTP and several Hollywood unions updated their working protocols amidst the pandemic. They implemented mandatory vaccination as a condition for working on set. The mandate reads:

“The option to implement mandatory vaccination policies for casts and crew in Zone A on a production-by-production basis.”

Zone A crew are essentially the personnel, including actors who work on set while filming.

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Will Letitia Wright leave MCU as Shuri over new vaccine mandates?

Letitia Wright’s stance towards vaccination goes directly against the mandate to be followed by Studios’ newer productions until January 15 (which may be extended further).

The Hollywood Reporter recently reported that Black Panther 2, which has currently paused its production over Letitia Wright’s injury, is set to resume filming in January 2022. THR’s insiders also claimed that Letitia Wright would also be returning to film the remaining portion of Shuri’s shoot in the sequel.

Meanwhile, a recent exclusive from Giant Freakin Robot included information from insider sources that claimed that Letitia Wright might not be continuing as Shuri in future MCU projects, which may have stricter vaccination mandates.

This could be a problem as Shuri is rumored to replace T’Challa (portrayed by the late Chadwick Boseman) as Black Panther, as in the comics. If Letitia Wright is to leave as Shuri, then future MCU projects might have to recast Shuri as the Black Panther, provided that she takes up the mantle in the first place.

However, it has also been reported that Black Panther 2 might not have to implement the mandatory vaccination protocol as it began its production before the protocols were updated.

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Here’s what MCU fans think about Letitia Wright’s Black Panther 2 controversy

Like last year, MCU fans have again called for Letitia Wright to be recast as Shuri. However, this is unlikely to happen as the film has been in production since June 2021.

If the reports of Letitia Wright leaving future MCU projects are true, then she would be joining the likes of Ice Cube, Steve Burton, and Ingo Rademacher.