With director Ryan Coogler having originally written his Black Panther sequel to revolve around its leading man, it was somewhat surprising that Marvel Studios chose to push on with its plans for a follow-up to the groundbreaking 2018 blockbuster so quickly after the untimely death of Chadwick Boseman last year.
Having ruled out recasting and/or digital trickery, Cooger and the studio found themselves faced with the difficult challenge of working out how to continue the franchise without their title character, whilst simultaneously explaining T’Challa’s absence within the narrative and honouring Boseman’s legacy.
However, with cameras now rolling on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, they appear to have done just that, although – as one might expect – it seems that Coogler and co-writer Joe Robert Cole have went through multiple iterations of the script to do so.
“I don’t know what it’s going to look like at all,” said Angela Bassett in an interview with ET Online. “There have been about five incarnations of the script, and I hear another one’s coming. Of course, with our dear king going on to glory, a lot of things had to be shifted and changed. So, thankfully, Ryan and Joe Robert Cole, they’re just such masterful storytellers that they’ve found a way into this world and hopefully it will be satisfying, I think, for the fans and it will be honorable of our Chad. We love our king.”
Marvel is yet to officially announce the cast of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, although it is expected that Danai Gurira (Okoye), Letitia Wright (Shuri), Daniel Kaluuya (W’Kabi), Winston Duke (M’Baku), Lupita Nyong’o (Nakia), Florence Kasumba (Ayo), Angela Bassett (Ramonda) and Martin Freeman (Everett Ross). Specific plot details are being kept under wraps, but as-yet-unsubstantiated rumours have suggested that Wakanda could find itself at war with Namor the Sub-Mariner and his Atlantean army.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is scheduled for release on July 8th, 2022.