Letitia Wright Is 'Hopeful' About a Marvel Return as Shuri: 'The Comic Books Reveal a Lot' (Exclusive)

Wright also tells PEOPLE that she and her 'Black Panther' castmates are still "like a family," and make a point to see each other every couple of years

Letitia Wright is eager to reprise her Black Panther character.

Speaking with PEOPLE while touting her new movie Surrounded, the 29-year-old actress says she would "like to be hopeful" about returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Shuri, who takes over the superhero mantle from her brother King T'Challa (the late Chadwick Boseman) in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

"The way we end [Wakanda Forever], it definitely shows that this character is going to go on a healing journey," Wright says. "She has responsibilities as an auntie, and as someone who is one of the last remaining members of the royal family. That's, unfortunately, just something that she's dealing with."

The actress adds that "the indication" of whether Shuri will return in a future MCU installment "is in the comic books, really."

"[The] comic books reveal a lot," Wright says.

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Related: Letitia Wright Says 'Amazing' Michael K. Williams Was 'Beautiful to Work With' on His Final Film (Exclusive)

For now, Wright prioritizes keeping in contact with her Black Panther castmates, who are "really a family" that she will "have forever."

"We spread out and go do our thing and then we collectively come back. Every two or three years or so, I see everybody," she tells PEOPLE.

For example, she connected with Danai Gurira, who plays Okoye in the films, just "a few months ago" — and even rode camels in Dubai with Winston Duke (M'Baku).

"I text [director/co-writer] Ryan Coogler all the time, check in with him and his family. We have a great bond, a beautiful bond," Wright says. "I see Mama Angela [Bassett] all the time, awards season — giving her flowers, just making sure that she's good."

Wright co-produced and stars in Surrounded as Moses “Mo” Washington, a character who was inspired by Buffalo soldier Cathay Williams.

"Five years after the Civil War, freedwoman and former Buffalo Soldier Moses 'Mo' Washington travels west to lay claim on a gold mine — the summation of years of toil for Mo and her community," reads an official synopsis of the film. "It is a mean, dangerous world for an unaccompanied Black woman in 1870 America, and so Mo travels into the deep frontier disguised as a man."

"After her stagecoach is ambushed by a group of murderous thieves, Mo is forced to hold legendary outlaw Tommy Walsh (Jamie Bell) captive while the remaining surviving passengers seek out help," it continues. "What ensues is a battle of wills, blurring the line between captor and captive, as they both try to survive the harsh western landscape."

Asked about her first time both producing and starring in a film, Wright tells PEOPLE that the responsibilities' "duality" made the project not "as daunting or as tough as it usually should be."

"I got to just share my opinions on the script ... and just the day-to-day on-set activities [in] that if something was going wrong, I would try to speak up and get things sorted as best as I could," she says. "It was a good learning experience that took me into the other opportunities to produce, such as The Silent Twins, and then now my next film that I'm getting ready to do in January."

Surrounded will be available On Digital everywhere Tuesday.

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