A summary of the Empire article from HEF
Nate Moore did say that they made sure the story of Black Panther is standalone, especially after Civil War and its events.
Ryan Coogler, having never been to the African continent,
took his family to South Africa to get a feel of what an African country is like. He stated that African nations and Africans in film are either used as plot devices, or their cultures are misrepresented in ways that are offensive or inaccurate. Ryan wanted to be as authentic as possible because of this.
Ryan, Moore, and Martin Freeman all iterated that Black Panther had to be a good movie and story above everything else. While Ryan Coogler felt immense pressure having to represent an entire people, he also said he made sure he didn't over think it, and said that making Black Panther a good movie was the best way to represent Africans.
Chadwick Boseman's on-set team consisted of his dialect coach, musicians and an old drummer friend, martial artist Marrese Crump and choreographer Aakomon Jones, from Get On Up. There might be a sequence where T'Challa had to dance?
Angela Bassett said Ramonda and T'Challa are still in mourning, but she's stepped up as his mother to help his transition to king.
MBJ mentioned Heath Ledger's Joker and Michael Fassbender's Magneto as performances he looked up to as a fan and actor for preparation for his role as Killmonger.
Chadwick Boseman said Black Panther had to be grounded in real clothing, real music, real science, real dance, and real everything that comes from the African continent to make the film compelling, and T'Challa had to be well-rounded mentally, physically, and spiritually to make him not just a compelling superhero or king, but a compelling human being and man. He believes that the film and his character can relate to not just Black people, but all people.
Martin Freeman said he didn't want Ross to be just a comedic character.
Daniel Kaluuya said W'Kabi and his border tribe look very humble, but have a militaristic aspect to them as they protect Wakanda from outsiders.
Coogler said Black Panther explores what it means to be African through music, clothing, language, production design and the colour and structure of buildings and walls, and through the ugly stuff conflict, and weapons.
