Black Panther moviegoers showed out in droves over the weekend to view the Marvel film starring Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa, Lupita Nyong’o as bad ass spy and love interest Nakia and Michael B. Jordan as Erik Killmonger, to name a few.
But early reviews are showing that even though Nakia and T’Challa’s relationship represented Black love at its best, another relationship in the movie had people talking and wanting more. For as tough as she is, Okoye (Danai Gurira) still finds time for lipstick and her husband W’Kabi (played by Daniel Kaluuya of Get Out fame). Though, unfortunately for audiences, most of the couple’s affectionate interactions and love scenes wound up on the cutting room floor.
But Kaluuya, a Ugandan who grew up in London, says that the relationship is still significant even if we never see W’Kabi and Okoye share a kiss.
“It’s important to show a Black relationship and the dynamics of that when the two people in it have very different views,” Kaluuya told ESSENCE, adding that he had fun shooting his love scenes with Gurira. “They’re already married so you do get a sense of the love they have for each other. As far as storytelling goes, picking up on that love is more important than seeing them smooch.”
Gurira agrees but hopes that audiences will get to see the deleted scenes some day.
“Talk to Ryan about getting the DVD extras, girl,” Gurira says blushing, “because those are some good scenes.”
Black Panther premiered in theaters Friday, February 16.