Five Things To Know About ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’
The highly anticipated Black Panther sequel will release in 2022, and a few pressing details are circulating on what fans can expect in the new film.
It is certain that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will be different from the first iteration following the death of lead character Chadwick Boseman who played King T'Challa.
Boseman died of colon cancer in August 2020; he was 43. Months after Boseman's death, Disney announced that a new actor would not replace his character in December of the same year.
Marvel executive Victoria Alonso also confirmed that the studio would not digitally recreate Boseman for the film's sake.
Here are five things to know so far about the upcoming movie.
THE PLANS TO HANDLE CHADWICK BOSEMAN’S DEATH
While the details on how Marvel plans to move forward without Boseman, Marvel president Kevin Feige shared with Variety according to comickbook.com that the late actor will be honored in some way.
“It’s clearly very emotional without Chad,” he said. “But everyone is also very excited to bring the world of Wakanda back to the public and back to the fans. We’re going to do it in a way that would make Chad proud.”
In an interview in early July 2021, Angela Bassett, who plays T’Challa’s mother Ramonda, spoke with Entertainment Tonight about honoring Boseman.
“Thankfully, Ryan [Coogler] and [screenwriter] 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.”
THE RELEASE DATE
Production began in Atlanta in June 2021 after Marvel announced that the film would premiere in theaters on July 8, 2022.
THE CAST
On Wednesday (July 21) Variety shared that I May Destroy actress Michaela Coel has been confirmed to join the cast.
Returning actors from the first film are expected to reprise their roles, Lupita Nyong’o, Letitia Wright, Daniel Kaluuya, Angela Bassett, Winston Duke, Martin Freeman, Florence Kasumba, and Danai Gurira.
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IF ANYONE ELSE FROM MARVEL WILL MAKE AN APPEARANCE
While cameos have not been publicly confirmed, Marvel's Falcon and new Captain America, Anthony Mackie, has joked in past interviews about being open to taking a trip to Wakanda.
“I do have a Wakanda visa, so I can go to Wakanda as much as I want,” he told ET. “I have a passport and a Wakanda visa and I’m vaccinated, so I can go to Wakanda.”
WHAT THE FILM IS ABOUT
While details of the film haven't been revealed if filmmakers decide to mirror the Black Panther comic books, T'Challa's sister Shuri (Wright) would eventually step in and become Black Panther after brother was nearly killed by Doctor Doom, according to Marvel.
Bassett, however, shared that the script has been reworked several times and that she is unsure of the plot.
"I don't know what it's going to look like at all," she said in an interview with ET earlier this month. "There have been about five incarnations of the script, and I hear another one's coming."
