Winston Duke: “I love that people of the African diaspora get their own fandom with this movie.”

Marvel Studios’ world premiere of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” had the cast and crew cascading across a purple carpet in Hollywood last night. Film stars at the glitzy event included Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke and Angela Bassett. Joining the stars were filmmakers Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Göransson who produced the film’s score.

Also in attendance was global icon Rihanna, who returns to the airwaves this Friday with “Lift Me Up,” the lead single from the film, which was written as a tribute to “Black Panther” actor Chadwick Boseman who died of colon cancer in 2020.

“This is a special moment to be coming back to this film,” Lupita Nyong’o shared with reporters on the carpet. “We made this film in Chadwick’s honor and with him in mind and we carry him with us. It feels special to be back and I am very ready to share this with the world.”

“The strength of the movie has always been its ensemble,” added Winston Duke. “It is a family story at its heart. It’s welcoming and warming and I love that people of the African diaspora get their own fandom with this movie and then people not from the diaspora get to participate in a fun narrative. It has something for everybody. We get to own it and we get to share it and that is pretty cool.”

In “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Shuri (Letitia Wright), M’Baku (Winston Duke), Okoye (Danai Gurira) and the Dora Milaje (including Florence Kasumba) fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T’Challa’s death.

As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with the help of War Dog Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) and Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) and forge a new path for the kingdom of Wakanda. Introducing Tenoch Huerta Mejíaas Namor, king of a hidden undersea nation, the film also stars Dominique Thorne, Michaela Coel, Mabel Cadena and Alex Livinalli. “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” directed by Ryan Coogler and produced by Kevin Feige and Nate Moore, opens in U.S. theaters Nov. 11, 2022.

By Samantha Ofole-Prince/ Photos by Tommaso Boddi, Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney