Ludwig Göransson Interview: Black Panther Wakanda Forever

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever hits theaters this weekend and continues the epic story of Wakanda. The movie will follow Wakanda as the country mourns the death of its king and Black Panther, T’Challa. In the midst of their loss, Wakanda is faced with an all-new threat from Namor the powerful ruler of the secretive underwater kingdom Talokan.

Black Panther has some of the most iconic music in the MCU and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will follow the standout score. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’s composer Ludwig Göransson has composed some of the most recognizable music including not only Marvel’s Black Panther but also Star Wars series The Mandalorian and the Creed franchise. Göransson composed the score for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever while also working with artists like Rihanna to create the soundtrack as well.

Screen Rant spoke with Ludwig Göransson about crafting the music for the new movie. Göransson explained how he recreated Mayan music based on extensive research, the musical arc of Shuri’s experiences, and honoring the legacy of Chadwick Boseman.

Ludwig Göransson On Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Screen Rant: Ludwig, congratulations on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The film has so much emotion and action, and your music just enhances the film even more. Black Panther has some of the most iconic music in the MCU, but how has it evolved since the first film?

Ludwig Göransson: Thanks, Joe. It’s great to be talking to you. The evolution of it was very different because when I read the first rendition of the script, Chadwick was in it. T’Challa was in it. So, I was starting to imagine, “How are we going to take these themes [and] move forward? But then the tragic passing of Chadwick happened, and I started to think, “There’s so many sounds and instruments and themes that are tied also to his character in the first movie. I don’t even know if we’re going to be able to use them again.” Because it has to feel right. All these sounds, all these themes and all these instruments, they have such an emotional weight. As soon as you hear the talking drum, you think about T’Challa. So, that was the big challenge.

And then, obviously, coming up with the sound for Namor and the Talokans. It’s a completely new world, and we’re spending a lot of time with them. We spend a lot of time seeing their world for the first time. When I read the script, I talked to Ryan, and he told me that the story and people are very heavily inspired by Mayan culture. That was extremely inspiring for me because I was able to travel to Mexico and to Mesoamerica and start working.

I wanted to record Mayan music, but I quickly realized that that music is gone. It was forcibly erased 500 years ago; there’s no traces. They don’t know how the music was performed; there’s no sheet music. There’s no musicians from generation to generation. It’s gone. So, I started working with some music archeologists in Mexico City that specialize in recreating some of the instruments. They found some of the instruments in some of the graves. They’ve seen the codex, they see what type of instruments they’re [using], like seashells and turtle shells. We started recording and re-imagining what the Mayans’ sound could have been like, so that was the interesting part of [making] the music for Namor.

Whoa, that’s incredible. Can you talk a little bit about the legacy of Chadwick Boseman, and how you honored to T’Challa throughout the film?

Ludwig Göransson: Yeah. What you hear in the whole first movie is basically driven by the talking drum. [It] kind of became the sound that was T’Challa’s sound, and it was the Black Panther sound. In this movie, we had to spend a lot of time on how we’re placing that sound. How would we place that sound in a way that feels right? And also, what do we do with the Black Panther theme? How are we going to place that?

We’re following the story of a lot of people, but Shuri is the center of the story. She’s dealing with this, and she’s a completely different character than she is in the first movie. She’s been going through a lot. She’s a grown woman now, so she’s dealing with a lot of grief and pushing it down.

Her melody and her theme is played and sung by Georgia Smith. It’s in the vocals in the beginning, so you hear that vocal line develop as Shuri’s story arc continues. And when she finally realizes what type of leader she’s going to be and who she is, that melody goes from intimate vocals to this huge bombastic, distorted synthesizer. It just hits you in your face, and then somehow that theme morphs and goes into symbiosis with the Panther theme, and they work together and are connected. That journey was very important to get right musically.

That’s incredible. With Riri Williams being introduced and having ties to Ironman and potentially other MCU characters, did you take any inspiration from existing MCU scores like Ironman? Or did you create something completely new for her?

Ludwig Göransson: It was something completely new. We are just getting to start exploring what her sound is. Obviously, she’s from Chicago. But more than that, we are just at the beginning, starting [to explore] her sound.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever taps into a ton of different emotions: grief, rage, fear, etc. How do you tap into these emotions with your music to enhance the scenes without overpowering them?

Ludwig Göransson: I think with this, what was so different with this musical experience is that Ryan and I have been talking for a long time about how we can make a completely immersive sound and music experience. On this one, I was working on the score and on the soundtrack at the same time; making songs, creating songs, and creating the score, which is normally two completely different departments. While I was creating the score, I was creating the songs. I was using score elements in the songs and song elements in the score.

I was working with contemporary artists in Mexico and Nigeria, and while I was writing with them, I was showing them the script. They were still shooting, so we were writing the songs based off the script, I’d send the songs as soon as we have them to Ryan, and Ryan played it on set to his actors. We went to Nigeria together, me and Ryan, and he was editing the movie in Lagos at night. I was in the studio at night, and then in the daytime, he came and joined my studio sessions. We were working with some incredible artists, writing the songs for the movie and working on the score at the same time. Everything was a very organic experience, how everything came together, and how the songs and the score move together. It’s very connected, like one tissue.

Speaking of those fantastic artists, I have to ask about Rihanna. Can you talk to me about the collaboration process of working with Rihanna on the new song, “Lift Me Up?”

Ludwig Göransson: Just the timing of that and how it all came together was a very magical moment, because the movie’s essentially about motherhood, and that connected with where she is in her career and her personal life too.

Ryan and I started the song a while ago, and I had this little musical idea that I asked Ryan to write some lyrics over. Then we flew to Nigeria and got in a session with [Temilade Openiyi], and she added this beautiful verse on top of it. It started coming together, and I was like, “Okay, this is incredible.” We went back to LA and eventually got into the studio with Riri. I particularly worked on every little single detail with her for a couple weeks, so it was a very magical moment.

About Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Queen Ramonda, Shuri, M’Baku, Okoye, and the Dora Milaje fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T’Challa’s death. As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with Nakia and Everett Ross to forge a new path for their beloved kingdom.

Check out our other Black Panther 2 interviews here:

• Ryan Coogler
• Danai Gurira
• Lupita Nyong’o
• Alex Livinalli & Mabel Cadena
• Dominique Thorne
• Nate Moore

Next: MCU Movies & Shows To Rewatch Before Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever arrives in theaters on November 11.