

Here's Nate Moore's description of it: So in the film it is more than hinted at that they’re a couple, but there is a scene directly after Killmonger takes the throne where you hear both characters articulate their point of view as to why they should or shouldn’t follow this man and it’s one of the most well-acted scenes I’ve ever been a part of. The scene which was cut is one establishing their relationship further, ahead of the final showdown. While there's not much screen time given over to the couple, their relationship becomes very important during the final battle when the Dora Milaje and the Border Tribes find themselves on opposing sides: hers defending T'Challa, the true king, and his defending Killmonger and his vision of conquest.


We also learn she's in a relationship with the leader of the Border Tribe guards, W’Kabi, when she contacts both T'Challa and W'Kabi when they happen to be hanging out together. Over the course of the movie, we learn a lot about her in passing, most importantly the fact that her loyalty is not to any one man, but to the country and the throne of Wakanda. While Ayo (Florence Kasumba) was the first Dora Milaje fans met back in Captain America: Civil War, and she's one of the guards in the film, the lead guard role goes to Okoye. What was this scene? In was one featuring Okoye (Danai Gurira), the Dora Milaje guard. If his description is anything to go by, it's going to be one of many reasons to run out and buy it when it hits stores. It was such an important plot point, executive producer Nate Moore says he's certain it will end up as one of the Black Panther deleted scenes on the DVD/Blu-Ray. While some of the cuts were easier than others, there was one scene in particular Coogler fought to keep until the very end. Reports back in the fall said the first cut of the final film was over four hours long. Like all the best fantasy movies, Black Panther, which rings in at two hours and 15 minutes, was originally a much longer film.
