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| Daniel Kaluuya confirmed his “Wakanda Forever” absence to Rotten Tomatoes |
Wakanda was temporary for Daniel Kaluuya.
The 33-year-old actor will not return to the Marvel
Cinematic Universe in the “Black Panther” sequel “Wakanda Forever,” Rotten
Tomatoes found out Wednesday.
The movie review website reported that he had to back out of
the film “due to schedule conflicts” with Jordan Peele’s thriller “Nope,” which
will be released on July 22.
The Hollywood Reporter later also confirmed the bad news.
In an upcoming issue of Essence, Kaluuya told Peele that he
had been “disillusioned” with acting before landing a role in Peele’s hit 2017
thriller “Get Out.”
“I had stopped acting for like a year and a half. I checked
out, because I was just like, this isn’t working,” Kaluuya said of his struggle
to book gigs.
“I wasn’t getting roles, because racism and all this kind of
stuff — so you reaching out was like, ‘Okay, I’m not crazy. It’s proper. It’s
going to be all right,’” he said, giving credit to Peele for keeping him
motivated.
Production of “Black Panther 2” was originally halted when
star Chadwick Boseman lost his four-year battle with colon cancer on Aug. 28,
2020. The COVID-19 pandemic delayed the project even further as multiple actors
contracted the deadly virus.
In late November 2021, Letitia Wright also was hurt on a
stunt rig while filming in Boston. Production went on for as long as it could
without her but stopped again in late November.
For now, “Wakanda Forever” is still set for the big screen
on Nov. 11.