His passing is still extremely raw for me: Lupita Nyong'o on Chadwick Boseman

Boseman, who played the titular superhero in Marvel Studios' 2018 smash hit movie as well as two ''Avengers'' films, died at the age of 43 in August 2020 after a secretive four-year-long battle with colon cancer. 

The studio and the film's director Ryan Coogler have started working on the much-awaited sequel, which will not be recasting Boseman's role of T'Challa aka superhero Black Panther. 

Nyong'o, who played the role of Nakia in the movie, told Yahoo! Entertainment that it is still difficult for her to process Boseman's death. 

''People will ask me, ‘Are you excited to go back?' Excitement isn’t the word. I feel like I’m in a very pensive and meditative state when it comes to 'Black Panther 2'. 

''His passing is still extremely raw for me. And I can’t even begin to imagine what it will be like to step on set and not have him there,'' the 38-year-old actor said. 

Nyong'o asserted that director Coogler is trying his best to honour Boseman and his legacy with the new movie. 

''At the same time we have a leader in Ryan, who feels very much like we do, who feels the loss in a very, very real way as well. And his idea, the way which he has reshaped the second movie is so respectful of the loss we’ve all experienced as a cast and as a world. So it feels spiritually and emotionally correct to do this,'' the actor said. ''And hopefully, what I do look forward to, is getting back together and honouring what he started with us and holding his light through it. Because he left us a lot of light that we’re still going to be bathing in. I know that for sure,'' she added.