"Black Panther" director Ryan Coogler is explaining the genius behind one of the film's most memorable fight scenes.
Marvel's history-making film centers on Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa, also known as Black Panther -- prince and later king of the fictional African country of Wakanda. The film follows him as he tries to protect his homeland from evil forces.
Still, Boseman's T'Challa is joined by Lupita Nyong'o's character, Nakia, and Danai Gurira's Okoye for a fight scene in an Asian casino where they're trying to kidnap Wakanda's number one villain.
In a "Vanity Fair" video, Coogler points out several things fans may have missed while watching "Black Panther."
Danai Gurira thought her manager was pranking her about 'Black Panther' role Has black cinema reached a watershed moment with 'Black Panther' and 'Get Out'?Watch #BlackPanther director Ryan Coogler break down one of the film's fight scenes pic.twitter.com/3ToAOrlKvU
— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) February 20, 2018
Here's what we learned:
Nakia's dress
1. Nakia is wearing a 3-D printed green dress. In fact, she's the only person in this scene wearing the color green. The pattern on her dress is actually "Wakandan text" that's "actually drawn in lines and boxes as opposed to round shapes," Coogler explained.
Okoye's wig
2. Coogler also said Okoye using her wig in the scene to fight off the bad guys is very important. When Okoye became a Dora Milaje
warrior, just like the other warriors, she was required to shave her head, Coogler said. "So for her it's a dishonor for her to cover her bald head," the director added. So when Okoye throws her wig at the fighter, she's returning to herself as a true warrior.
Pan-African flag symbolism
3. Coogler noted that while T'Challa is wearing all black, Okoye is wearing red. Combined, the three fighters -- T'Challa, Nakia and Okoye -- are wearing black, red and green, which are the colors of the "Pan-African flag," Coogler said.
Stuntmen get in on the fun
4. Two people fall from the second floor to the first floor in the scene. Only one was a real person. The other was a "digi-double," or special effects, Coogler said. As for the real stuntmen who fell, Coogler said "it took a lot of bravery there."
It wasn't easy
5. The elaborate fight scene was one of their first scenes in the film to get on tape. "It took us a lot of takes," Coogler admitted. "We said, if we could get this right it'll set the tone for the rest of the film."
