At a virtual press conference attended by Bill Bria from /Film, Letitia Wright He talked about Shuri’s arc in the two “Black Panther” movies and went into detail about the character’s place in the first movie:
“We meet her in the first movie and she’s a ray of sunshine. She’s dressed and protected with royal and love, and she’s proud that her older brother has taken this step and followed her father’s legacy. She just wants to create. I love it. In the first one, Shuri because she had no limits too. She went for her brother’s protection, her armor. He was that person. He encouraged it. His parents encouraged him to be a genius and to be done in a terrible and wonderful way.”
Shuri’s love for her family and creation is something that will be revealed in “Wkanda Forever,” where Wright goes into more detail about how Ryan Coogler created a complete arc for the character:
“From now on we continue [in the sequel]. What does it look like when your heart is broken? I think that’s where Ryan said, ‘How do we create a complete arc that this person, this young woman, is going through something with other family members, the general, and the Wakandans?’ was his guidance. […] We were able to bring something that felt real, that felt real, and I was able to bring my heart to it and give Shuri a full bow, and I hope people can resonate with that and find some healing with us.”
From the promotional materials and early reactions, it seems that “Wakanda Forever” will naturally continue the strong family relationships and dynamics from the first movie. Letitia Wright and her character may have been forced into a more prominent role, but still, the resulting character arc will hopefully be emotionally cathartic and thematically relevant to the movie.