2. The Mural

it was done by Brandon Sadler, the same muralist who did the one in Shuri’s lab in the first film. When Chadwick Boseman passed away, beautiful murals went up everywhere of him in the Panther suit and of just him. I think human beings want to immortalize someone in a way; we felt that when Kobe Bryant and Prince passed. And I didn’t think it would be different for any Wakandan to lose their panther-in-chief.

We did about 50 mock-ups of what it could be— different ways that Chadwick looked. And Ryan sent me a text: “It’s this picture of him.” Brandon had one day to paint it, and he did it in the rain. We put plastic sheeting over the building’s second story, and he was in a Condor crane. I had written in Wakandan script about Chadwick meeting the ancestors forever; Brandon did such a beautiful job with it.

When Ryan first saw the mural, you could see that it— I don’t think anybody was expecting it. None of the actors really knew we were doing that. The emotion that first day filming here was really heavy. Those are real tears that people are crying. There was also this resounding celebration of a life: the fictional life and the real life. I think it was a way to show someone how much you love them in a reminder of the beginning. Never the end— the beginning. We later took it down and sent it to Disney; I’m not sure what will become of it.

The memorial reads, “The Panther King Forever Lives in Us and Rests With the Ancestors.” A nod to Fantastic Four No. 52 artist Jack Kirby’s original designs; this building names him, Beachler, graphic designer Kelsey Brennan, and art director Marlie Arnold as “Wakanda architects.” Beachler created Wakandan text by adapting and evolving the ancient Nigerian language of Nsibidi.