Marvel Studios(NEW YORK) — Ahead of her upcoming film, Mission: Impossible — Fallout, in which she plays CIA deputy director Erica Sloane, Angela Bassett is reflecting on her blockbuster film, Black Panther, and the idea of its highly -anticipated sequel.
Bassett, who plays Black Panther’s mother, the regal Queen Ramonda, says she can easily picture where we might find her character in Black Panther 2.
“I think she’s still there in the throne room,” Basset tells ABC Radio. “Or, she’s safely ensconced in the Wakandan Palace, because we didn’t see her ‘pooof’ into ashes– her or [her daughter] Shuri. So mama and baby girl are going to have to right this world back together, because it was pretty much decimated…in the last Avengers.”
As Bassett notes, at the end of Avengers: Infinity World, Thanos caused half the universe’s population to turn to ash. She says she’s still heartbroken about that.
“They took my son!” she exclaims, referring to the fact that T’Challa, aka Black Panther, was one of those who were “ashed.”
“My son is gone. But you know, [Wakanda] is 100 years beyond whatever the rest of the world is doing technologically,” she adds. “So, I think we have the means…the technology, the strength [to rebuild].”
Bassett also hopes Ramonda will have a more active role in the sequel.
“I would kid when we were working, saying, ‘When we come back for [Black Panther 2], she’s going to really get into the game,'” she laughs. “You’re gonna see some of her skills and [Black Panther will] say, “That’s my mama.’ She’s going to throw down.”
Bassett says it’ll be easy to explain where she learned her fighting skills, too.
“I’m going to say, ‘I used to be a Dora,'” she says of the Dora Milaje, Wakanda’s feared female warriors, “And I still have some of those moves. Don’t underestimate mom!” she laughs.
Black Panther is from Marvel Studios, which is owned by Disney, parent company of ABC.
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