Letitia Wright Honors Chadwick Boseman Through Her Style at 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' Premiere
Amy Sussman/WireImage; Dan MacMedan/WireImage
Letitia Wright honored her late friend Chadwick Boseman at Wednesday night's Black Panther: Wakanda Forever premiere.
Walking the red carpet for the long-awaited Ryan Coogler sequel at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, Wright wore a black Alexander McQueen suit from the spring summer 2023 pre-collection. Observant fans likely noticed that the back crystal harness and cutaway waist on the jacket resembled the now-iconic Givenchy Couture suit that Boseman wore to the 2018 Academy Awards.
RELATED: Chadwick Boseman's Brother Accepts Actor's Disney Legend Honor at D23: 'We'll Always Love You'
Frazer Harrison/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty
Wright also pulled off the signature "Wakanda forever" pose, crossing two arms against her chest and standing proudly in a suit reminiscent of her late on-screen sibling.
Boseman, the Oscar nominee who starred in 2018 blockbuster Black Panther as lead King T'Challa, died in August 2020 following a private four-year battle with colon cancer, prompting the film to reworked to honor him. The 30th Marvel Cinematic Universe feature film entry — starring Angela Bassett, Winston Duke, Danai Gurira, Lupita Nyong'o, Martin Freeman, and Wright reprising her role as T'Challa's sister Shuri — is already being hailed as a "beautiful tribute" by those who got an early glimpse of it this week.
The film, which is two hours and 41 minutes, follows the returning cast as they "fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T'Challa's death," per an official synopsis from Marvel.
RELATED: Chadwick Boseman Wins Posthumous Emmy Award for Voice-Over Role in Marvel's 'What If…?' Series
"Coogler delivers a soulful, wondrous sequel that packs an emotional punch & effectively explores relevant world themes," film critic Fico Cangiano wrote. "A beautiful tribute to Boseman's legacy. Letitia & Tenoch are great, & the mid-credits scene is really moving."
Critic Tessa Smith wrote on Twitter that Wakanda Forever "feels like a war movie," commending Tenoch Huerta's performance as the villain Namor. "It's emotional, heavy, intense & phenomenal. Namor is an incredible & powerful villain," Smith wrote. "#WakandaForever focuses on grief, loss, & vengeance. You aren't ready for the Marvel logo & mid credit. It honors Chadwick perfectly."
Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
Wright opened up to PEOPLE last month at the D23 Expo about honoring Boseman, who she said helped her through filming the sequel, despite not physically being present. "I will always have moments on set of doubt, and I'll be like, 'Oh man, I don't know if I can do this.' I could just hear [Boseman] be like, 'Sister, you're great. You got this. I'm proud of you.' That really just kept me moving forward."
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
As Duke, 35, explained at the event, the franchise "has always been a really rich tapestry, and all the colors always make that tapestry grow," but for the second movie there "wasn't the same dynamic" between takes as its predecessor. The first time around, the cast would be rapping and laughing with each other. But ultimately, it was "not the same circumstance."
"He was always a very quietly powerful person," Duke shared. "Sometimes you don't realize the extent, the amount of space people like that take up until they're not there. He was one of those people that led by example, and just led by always showing up and putting his best foot forward every day."
