Lupita Nyong’o Says Making ‘Wakanda Forever’ Gave Cast and Crew an Outlet to Grieve Chadwick Boseman

After the worldwide success of Black Panther in 2018, the close-knit cast and crew couldn’t wait to return to Wakanda to film a sequel — until tragedy struck their familial foundation in 2020 when Chadwick Boseman died of colon cancer at age 43.

Lupita Nyong’o, who plays the multi-lingual Wakandan spy Nakia in the films, says she didn’t think they could continue with a sequel until writer/director Ryan Coogler called with a new idea for the film.

“At first, right after he passed, I just could not imagine how we go back to Wakanda,” she tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue. “And then Ryan calls me and walks me through this story that embraces the loss and is very much asking the question, ‘How do you go on after you experience tragedy and deep loss?'”

Phylicia J. L. Munn

The Mexican-born, Kenyan actress, 39, speaking to PEOPLE along with her Wakanda Forever costars Danai Gurira and Letitia Wright, says that that helped lay a new foundation for the cast and crew to continue grieving their loss individually and together.

“When Chadwick died, we were in isolation in a way that was new to all of us. And we didn’t have the opportunity to come together to process it,” she explains. “And so coming back to Wakanda was kind of that delayed moment of a community that lost him, coming back together. And so I was relieved personally that I didn’t have to pretend that I wasn’t going through grief and I could bring my grief to work and put it to good use. And I was actually eager to get back on set because I knew that that set would be populated with people who knew what I was going through. Who had the empathy, the sympathy, and were themselves going through it.”

Courtesy of Marvel Studios

She continues: “And so coming back was hard and hollow to begin with, but ended up being such a safe space where we could really bare what was in our spirits with each other and hold and comfort each other, give each other that room. And it started with Ryan creating a story that allowed for that and opening up his grief process to us as well.”

Gurira, 44, who plays the powerful Dora Milaje General Okoye, says “it meant everything to have each other,” while making the film.

“As Lupita said, it was not an easy journey. It was the whole journey through making this movie, getting it to the finish line,” says the Iowa-born Zimbabwean American. “Sometimes it really felt like, are we going to make it? Even grief, you don’t know when it’s going to hit you. I really wanted to shout out the new cast members like Michaela [Coel] and Dominique [Thorne] because they seemed to just know to be there for us in certain ways, at certain moments.”

Phylicia J. L. Munn

She adds: “The way that the world expanded beautifully, the right people came in and really understood that we were there to honor this man and we were going through grief as we pursued that goal.”

For much more on Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright and Wakanda Forever, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE on newsstands Friday

Gurira, Nyong’o and Wright met long before Black Panther, working together on Gurira’s Tony-nominated play Eclipsed.

“Danai gave us both jobs,” says Wright, 29. She and the Oscar winner played the same role, but at different times — Wright starred in the London debut in 2015 and then Nyong’o appeared in the off-Broadway and Broadway run.

Courtesy of Marvel Studios

From their first meeting and project together, up through making and promoting Wakanda Forever now, Nyong’o says they’ve “experienced a lot of life together. The good, the bad and the ugly.”

Wright describes their bond as a “sisterhood.”

“Our connectivity is really unshakeable,” says the Guyana-born, London-raised actress. “We can sense how each other feel, and that’s just a testament of the years that we were placed together and the experiences that we’ve gone through, especially with losing our brother, it just added another layer of connectivity for us. I feel like in many ways it’s allowed us to see how it’s important to cherish one another and not to take time for granted.”

Wright continues: “So, when it’s time for us to dance together, we do. When it’s time for us to say, ‘You look amazing!’ or compliment each other or ask how each other’s doing, we do it because time is precious and life is precious. I’m honored to know them and to do life with them and to make some great movies, man.”

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever opens in theaters Nov. 11.