Director Ryan Coogler Explains Daniel Kaluuya Character's Absence in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Marvel Studios Daniel Kaluuya in Black Panther (2018)

Ryan Coogler is explaining what happened to Daniel Kaluuya's Black Panther character and why he isn't shown in the sequel.

At the end of 2018's Black Panther, Kaluuya's character W'Kabi betrays his people to side with the villain Erik Killmonger, played by Michael B. Jordan, before being thwarted by Wakanda and King T'Challa (the late Chadwick Boseman).

Speaking with CinemaBlend, director Coogler shared where W'Kabi is now in the events of the new sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

"That's a great question. He's basically banished, but still within Wakanda's borders, if that makes sense. It's one line that refers to him still being alive," said Coogler.

RELATED: Ryan Coogler Shares Last Conversation with Chadwick Boseman Before His Death

Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney Ryan Coogler

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Oscar winner Kaluuya, 33, previously confirmed he does not appear in Wakanda Forever due to a scheduling conflict he had with the filming of his sci-fi movie Nope that debuted earlier this year. He then told The Hollywood Reporter in July about not wanting to disappoint fans.

"If I said anything, people would be really disappointed," he said of keeping hush about not being involved. "That's how I feel about it. I think people will be disappointed. They don't want to be spoiled. They're surprised in whatever will happen. That's what was amazing about the first one."

RELATED VIDEO: How Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Cast Were Able to Find Joy in Filming After 'Immense Loss' of Chadwick Boseman

Coogler, 36, recently told Entertainment Weekly that after Boseman died of colon cancer in August 2020 at 43, he didn't know if he could continue making movies.

"I was at a point when I was like, 'I'm walking away from this business.' I didn't know if I could make another movie period, [let alone] another Black Panther movie, because it hurt a lot. I was like, 'Man, how could I open myself up to feeling like this again?' " he said.

In the days after Boseman's death, Coogler was "poring over a lot of our conversations that we had, towards what I realized was the end of his life. I decided that it made more sense to keep going."

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is in theaters Friday.