Michaela Coel said her 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' character identifying as queer is what really drew her to the role.
July 25, 2022
Coel also opened up about preparing for the film, saying she went through some"pretty vigorous" training at a boot camp which saw her and her fellow Dora Milaje, many of them stunt women, mastering their moves outside"in the sweltering Atlanta heat." The Dora Milaje are the all-female crew of warriors who protect the kingdom of Wakanda alongside Danai Gurira's Okoye and Florence Kasumba's Ayo in the Marvel film. Coel's character, Aneka, is a member of that crew."I feel like she's much more concerned about the individual lives of people rather than the big picture or the big mission or the rules," Coel said of Aneka.
The"I May Destroy You" creator said she wanted to"minimize expectations" of fans who think she might be the next Black Panther, picking up the mantle after Chadwick Boseman, who died in August 2020 at 43 after a private, years-long battle with colon cancer. "I did a Vogue piece in which I said I'm a supporting role and then I heard it was a decoy from the fact that I'm the Black Panther. I'm not," she said."It's a supporting role, and I'm just so honored and grateful to have been even in a small part of this huge, huge story."Marvel is owned by Disney, parent company of ABC News and"Good Morning America.