Almost one year ago, Letitia Wright let the cat out of the bag: she’s an anti-vaxxer who pushes anti-vaxx conspiracies online. She did this on her own social media, and despite a well-deserved backlash and a freakout from Wright’s management team and Disney, she is still unvaccinated and planning to stay that way, it seems. Wright spent months filming Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in Atlanta this year, but several weeks ago, the production shut down because Letitia got injured on-set and she needs time to recover. The injury itself doesn’t sound Covid-related, and Letitia went home to London. The problem? Well, by the time she heals up, her unvaccinated ass probably won’t be allowed into the US, even on a work visa.
Logistical challenges await for studios that are working with stars who haven’t gotten the shot. Disney’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever star Letitia Wright — who portrays the lead Shuri, the sister of Black Panther T’Challa (the late Chadwick Boseman) — is not vaccinated, sources say. After sustaining an on-set injury in August, the Guyanese-born British actress went home to London.
Now, a return to the U.S. for a possible shoot in Atlanta, where Wakanda Forever is based, could be an issue. On Nov. 8, the CDC implemented rules that require all non-immigrant, non-citizen air travelers to the U.S. be fully vaccinated and provide proof of vaccination status before boarding a plane. Wright is not a U.S. citizen. Disney declined to comment.
Wright’s U.K. rep pointed to a statement issued Nov. 5 to THR regarding the actress’ injury, prompting a shutdown of production that will begin the week of Thanksgiving (director Ryan Coogler is said to have filmed everything he can without her). The rep notes: “Letitia has been recovering in London since September from injuries sustained on the set of Black Panther 2 and is looking forward to returning to work early 2022. Letitia kindly asks that you keep her in your prayers.”
Reportedly, Wakanda Forever is very far along in the shoot, and it would be a giant hassle for Ryan Coogler to recast Wright and reshoot everything. But that’s just what many people are suggesting. Not only from a logistical standpoint – how in the world could Wright return to the US to complete filming? – but also from a moral standpoint. How does Marvel and Disney deal with the attention coming towards Letitia Wright as the headliner for the Black Panther sequel? Does the Disney corporation really have the time or the desire to cover for a prominent anti-vaxxer? Anyway you slice it, this is going to end up costing Marvel a lot of money… unless someone, somewhere can convince Letitia to simply get the g–damn vaccine.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, WENN.
She’s a selfish a-hole. She doesn’t deserve to be in Black Panther.
Just knowing that she’s doing this after working with Chadwick Boseman, knowing that she worked with someone whose medical condition would have meant he was more susceptible for major complications due to to COVID… I just can’t with these selfish people anymore. Disney needs to fire her and recast her now.
I can’t stand these idiots. LW thinks she’s just so special that Disney will tolerate her nonsense. Let her go act in anti-vax funded productions then.
Anti-Vaxxers don’t think about others. They only care about themselves and think for some reason that Covid won’t get them.
When I was a child, the neighbor kid died of measles because her parents didn’t vaccinate her. I just don’t get Anti-Vaxxers, she could be still alive today,
I really hope that Disney will fire Letitia. She’s not worth any extra money or backlash.
@ milliemollie, that’s incredibly sad what happened to your friend at such an early stage. It’s actually heartbreaking. I could never willingly place my child in harms way, matter how old they are. I made certain that my kids have been UTD on all of their innocuous and vaccinations.
I must admit that I smiled a bit when I read this article!! It serves LW perfectly for thinking that she is too special and her kooky stance holds any weight. LW can stay in Britian. The less anti-vaxxer whackos, the better. She can find work there!!
As for her horrific treatment in not taking care during her work with Chadwick Boseman is unforgivable. She is just an awful person who does nothing but create noise to drown out her own stupidity! I don’t think that ANY citizen in this country should be allowed to roam freely without being vaccinated OR be allowed in public places.
Here we are coming into the cooler months and we are looking at another wave, another winter of hospitals unable to keep up with treating patients and people needlessly dying. And for what? Because you are TOO selfish, ignorant and too f#cking entitled to think that YOUR stance is worth killing those around you. Killing your parents or grandparents. And let’s NOT forget your children you are ALSO dying from this strain. The winter months are going to be hell for everyone, and much, much worse than the unvaccinated. I also don’t think that the unvaccinated should be allowed to utilize and take over hospitals. They have gutted the entire HC workers system and we will all end up paying with our own lives in the end.
@ BothSidesNow, I was scared that I was going to die too, because I didn’t really understand why she died and what measles actually were, but my mom explained it to me and told me that I didn’t need to be scared because I’m vaccinated.
Because of that, I have no sympathy or understanding for Anti-Vaxxers. Her parents’ selfish decisions took her life.
Letitia Wright needs to be fired.
I wish there was a like button.
Abso-fucking-lutely. swallow the frog, recast this stupid non-entity and move on.
She’s toast if she is unvaccinated and causes further delay. She’s costing Disney money and creating bad publicity for their moneymaker movie; that is the unforgivable sin for them.
They likely can’t recast at this stage so they will grit their teeth. But after that she is toast. And honestly? Bye, who cares? I think this movie is a too soon messy mistake to begin with.
Although I’d love to be a fly on the wall to listen to her agent scream at her right now.
Yeah I agree – Disney has all sorts of clauses in their contracts so am sure it won’t be an issue for them to drop her once the shoot is over. Silly silly girl, she had HW at her feet and p!ssed it up the wall over a vaccine.
Depending on what her contract looks like, Disney may actually be able to sue her if she isn’t coming back to work due to something that’s in her control.
They will probably “kill” her. Or recast
Recast. Shuri is a beloved comic book character. That idiot Terrace Howard in Ironman thought Marvel wouldn’t recast him…hello, Don Cheadle.
Seriously. Imagine being in her position—young, in a MAJOR blockbuster franchise, talented, pretty, and on the cusp of making more money in a year than most people retire on.
And blowing it all because you won’t take a little shot.
Selfish, selfish, and more selfish. If she gets a vaccine, great. But if she gets replaced, I’m equally fine with it since she’s exhausted any goodwill. It’ll cost Disney, but they have deep pockets. If she wants to torpedo her career, that’s her choice.
We knew about all of this before filming started. They should have replaced her then.
And honestly, it could have been easy. Chadwick Boseman’s untimely death meant a massive rewrite which could have included saying adios to Letitia.
I agree. But they probably hoping she would come around or at least complete filming before mandates were put in place. With Chadwick gone, they were probably reluctant to change too much.
Yea, wasn’t she sharing anti-science, anti-vax AND transphobic opinions before the shooting began? Even if they had already started they should have recast her ASAP. Now it’s going to cost a ton of money but they’ll have to do it because she isn’t going to become someone new for the promotion and it will overshadow everything.
Wright isn’t as essential as she seems to think she is. Shuri is though and that’s an easy fix: recast the part. They’ve done it before.
Marvel isn’t beyond recasting. Ask Terrence Howard. They could do it. It would be a hassle, but they would make the money back. People want to see how they are going to honor Chadwick’s memory in this film. It’s going to make bank. What people don’t want to see is Letitia’s antivaxx butt messing things up and delaying this film even further.
She’s not special enough for Disney/Marvel to bend over backwards to deal with her bullshit. She ain’t irreplaceable like Chadwick Bozeman. Her anti vaxx stance will not only continue to cause headaches for production but for when the time comes to release the movie. She will overshadow EVERYTHING. Not to mention the fact that someone who is so vigorously ANTI science facts is playing a character who’s entire life is about science. That’s what I loved about Shuri’s character, a young black woman who was a genius scientist and saving the world was a wonderful role model. Leticia is damaging the character and what she is supposed to represent.
And it’s not just the movie this will affect. It will affect the Disney Plus series Wakanda Forever. So, if I were Disney/Marvel, I would bite the bullet and recast her. In the long run it’s what is best for the franchise.
This news makes me sad, bc I loved Leticia’s character in BP and I also found her performance spellbinding to watch. (I don’t know why, but something about her facial expressions in the movie appealed to me.)
Nevertheless, choices have consequences. I stand with the CDC on this one.
Ya, this is where I am. I walked out of BP with a girl crush on Shuri and Okoye. No disrespect to Chadwick Boseman – he was a terrific actor – but those ladies stole the movie for me. So I’m sad on several levels. I know Letitia =/= Shuri, but I would’ve hoped she’d be a bit more science minded.
I liked her a lot in the film too, what a disappointment she turned out to be.
I kindly request that she stop being so foolish and selfish and get the damn vaccine.
She’s throwing away a really promising career. Disney/Marvel must be furious, and no one else is going to want to deal with her risks.
Same… and I’m really sad to see a young Black actress’s career suffer. There is so much awful misinformation out there, and I’m sure she was affected by it.
However, we all have to do everything we can to save lives (!) right now — vaccine, masking up, social distancing, and listening to the public health authorities / experts. Hopefully, someone in her circle will be able to share with her the science in a way she can accept.
If Carrie Fisher could be CGId for Star Wars, this bish can be digitally created, too. I’m so sick of these goddamned anti-vaxers. Covid is coming for you, you gigantic a-hole.
Letitia was injured while shooting Boston – something with stunt rigging? And from what I remember, they had been shooting around her for a couple months after that before they decided to shut down production until she could recover. It’s too bad because Shuri is an interesting character – I hope they can recast.
She needs to be recast. She plays a brilliant scientist. In real life, the character of Shuri would have been at the forefront of developing and distributing a vaccine. An actor doesn’t need to be the same as the character they play. But the blatant disregard for science and the well being of others, on top of all of her horrible tweets about the LGBTQIA community is too much.
Multiverse is coming into play. A new Shuri from a different verse would be super easy to write in. I can imagine Wright’s agent is screaming over the way she is willfully tanking her career.
I would love it if they just switched actors in the middle of the movie. It’s all pretend anyway, so just pretend something a little more. And then never hire the anti-vaxxer again!
They could do something like having her inventing a time machine to try to save her brother, she gets sucked into the past, but immediately an older actress steps back out of the machine.
There is even already a time machine from.
Endgame she could use. I like this idea.
the only positive is that this has opened discussions of recasting t’challa was well. I wasn’t here for it when Chadwick’s death was so fresh but i’m more open to the possibility now, especially since letitia is acting a fool.
A multiverse T’Challa would satisfy everyone I think. We’d get T’Challa replaced but it would not be replacing Chadwick.
They already flat out said that THIS universe’s T’Challa (the 616 universe) would not be recast. But that doesn’t rule out a T’Challa coming from another universe. Loki, Spider-Man No Way Home and Doctor Strange and The Multiverse of Madness is establishing the multiverse and will open up infinite possibilities. So we can easily get a new T’Challa and Shuri that way.
I JUST saw a tweet bout this lol perfect timing! yess that would be the perfect solution imo!
omg that would be truly amazing. i bet Disney won’t go this way, but what a terrific solution.
I can see marvel doing this especially once time has passed. The statement seemed very carefully worded about this version not appearing. (Though the MCU verse isn’t the 616 so that was odd.) CB can’t be replaced but the character was/is so important to many people. They’ll be other BPs but maybe another tchalla down the line. And I hope they go with Winston Duke as the new BP. He seems like a really good guy and who would really embrace the responsibility of that legacy. And also someone who, and this sounds silly, but embraces the MCU ethos. They don’t seem to cast troublemakers or people who think superhero movies are really beneath them etc. The casts and crews seem really tight and friendships are made even across franchise lines. There just seems to be a certain personality that fits, in addition to the talent and looks of the character. See: Ed Norton and Terrence Howard. And that, combined with the quality of the films (whether one likes them or not) and guaranteed success (especially if you’re an up and comer) has a ton of appeal. Standing out like this in what has to be an issue on set no matter how quiet it’s being kept isn’t what they’re known for.
This movie is becoming all about Letitia Wright and not in a good way. I don’t understand when people deliberately sabotage their success and show their most unlikeable sides. She has some extremest views and hope she’s not being exploited by anyone.
It’s such a shame because I loved her in the first Black Panther and in her episode of Black Mirror but this has just made me go completely off her.
Even if they find a way to get her back shooting and even if she gets the vaccine – she’s most likely leaving a bad taste in Disney’s mouth over this and that’s a very powerful company to get on the wrong side of.
She is an idiot, and she is going to find out how replaceable she is.
What a way to ruin your career.
They need to recast. She’s causing delay right now, and I’m not sure that she could be trusted to promote the film without launching into bizarre anti-vaxx tirades.
Yup. She’s a liability on EVERY level.
Let’s not forget the rumours of bad behaviour on the set in Atlanta from a few months ago – she was apparently pushing her anti-vax views on the cast and crew.
That on top of her costing the studio money – there are likely plotting her exit as we speak. Disney has no qualms about recasting etc.. even if the shoot is far along. Look at Rogue One, they sacked the previous director during editing (I think) and then reshot half the movie – even thou it cost them lots of money the final product earned the production costs back and then some.
If needed they can and will recast and reshoot.
If Disney do drop her I wonder how it will affect the other work she has lined up – she’s been cast in an upcoming Steve McQueen movie.
If the Steve McQueen movie is being filed in the U.S then she won’t be able to do that movie ether.
She’s going to be asked about it by nearly every outlet. It will overshadow the entire rollout of the film. If Disney wants to avoid that, they’ll have to recast.
Can you imagine if she has to do promotion fir the movie? The questions will be all about her anti-vaccine views and be a big distraction.
They could also avoid that by not making her available for interviews, but I suspect it would be considered an additional loss to the production to have a cast member who’s not going to be available for red carpets and conventions and all the other hoopla the MCU expects.
It’s not even just concerns about her anti-vaxx views. The video she retweeted had transphobic and anti-China content. Unfortunately, I suspect Marvel and Disney will care a lot more about the latter than the former, but either would bring unwanted controversy.
It’s insane this girl is willing to throw away her career over a damn vaccine. Just get the vaccine idiot ! Stop being selfish. This vaccine will help you and everyone around you.
Welp. That’s goodbye to her career 👋🏽
I don’t know about the veracity of this but a comic nerd friend send me an article saying they’ve retooled the script: originally, Shuri was the new Black Panther, but now it will be M’Baku (the lovely Winston Duke). So she may not get the boot from this film, but she’s out for any future movies. Grain of salt and all, but I like this direction
okay if it’s M’Baku i’m not mad. Duke was fantastic in that part. the thing is i loved T’Challa’s whole family scene, so i hope Ryan Coogler fleshes out M’Baku’s personal situation more, gives his wife and child(ren) dialogue, etc.
I would totally dig this, because I love him as M’Baku.
I saw someone mention this before use the actress from the Coming 2 America movie as the new Shuri and cut Letitia off. She is a liability on many fronts. She is not more important than the movie and to be honest I hope her selfishness gets her black listed from Hollywood.
It isn’t just about filming but also premiers, interviews, conventions, so on and so forth. The whole *international* MCU publicity circuit. How many of those things will have to be rejiggered or modified because Li’l Miss Sunshine refuses to be vaccinated? It really seems like this decision means she can’t do the job she was hired to do.
Yup. If she can’t travel to film she won’t be able to promote either. They have no choice but to recast her.
They should’ve fired her as soon as they learned she had no intention of getting vaccinated. She’s not a team player, and there are all sorts of reasons (like this situation where she can’t return to shoot!) why her unvaccinated status jeopardizes filming. Same goes for athletes. You’re being paid millions and won’t get a shot to protect your colleagues, your own ability to work, and your entire team’s ability to function properly? Get out.
Why y’all so mad?
Because people are DYING and immunocompromised people still can’t go out in public. Because she is a public figure taking a public stand that encourages behavior that hurts other human beings.
I thought she was the weakest, least interesting part of Black Panther. All the other women were stronger characters to helm a new film. Also, what an a-hole.
AMY—I liked her character, but LW is tripping if she thinks Disney can’t recast her in a day. Lots of petite, twenty something, black actresses would kill for the role, and she won’t even take a shot for it. If she were fired from production, the studio would have hundreds of agents calling before lunch.
ridiculous, she should be fired. Demote her and have Danai Gurira be the new Black Panther. She is great. I would have loved to see her in the role anyway.
No, she shouldn’t be allowed back in the U.S. unvaccinated. It’s so surprising about people. I actually loved her in the Black Panther movie. I had no idea she’s be such an idiot. Sometimes our expectations, good or bad, about people are just so wrong.
Honestly…if Disney keeps insisting on keeping her in the movie let it be but I will 100% NOT watch it. They might not care just about me but I am sure other people won’t financially support a movie whose leading figure is an anti vaxxer either. I have seen too many people around me lose their livelyhoods (my country is currently hit HARD by a fourth wave and vaccination rates remain low) and my best friend works at the covid station of the biggest hospital where I live and they actually have people of all ages dying now not because of Covid specifically but simply because we don’t have enough ECMO machines anymore and enough staff to take care of everything….I have had enough of these people….
Unfortunately if her career is ruined because of this the anti-vaxxers will probably see her as a martyr to the movement. I’d much rather see her think it over and CHANGE HER ATTITUDE.