Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will grace movie screens around the world on Friday, November 11 from Marvel Studios.
Wakanda Forever was directed by the 2018 smash-hit director Ryan Coogler, who co-wrote the screenplay with Joe Robert Cole. The same duo to write the the first movie. The sequel is the 30th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the final film in the fourth phase.
The Black Panther sequel stars Letitia Wright as Shuri, Lupita Nyong’o as Nakia, Danai Gurira as Okoye, Winston Duke as M’Baku, Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams / Ironheart, Florence Kasumba as Ayo, Michaela Coel as Aneka, Tenoch Huerta as Namor, Martin Freeman as Everett K. Ross, and Angela Bassett as Ramonda.
The original Panther will not star in the sequel after Chadwick Boseman passed away in 2021 due to cancer. Wakanda Forever will pass the torch to a yet to be revealed person.
In the film, the leaders of the kingdom of Wakanda fight to protect their nation from invading forces in the wake of King T’Challa’s death, and a new threat emerges from the hidden undersea nation of Talokan.
Namor will make his long-awaited MCU debut in Wakanda Forever. Namor debuted in the comics in Marvel Comics #1 (October 1939) created by Bill Everett. He is an Atlantean/Human Mutant Hybrid, but will be a Talokan/Human Mutant Hybrid within the MCU, as the creative team opted to not use Atlanteans in the films.
Riri Williams, aka Ironheart will also debut in the MCU during the film. Williams first appeared in Invincible Iron Man #9 (July 2016) after a cameo in Invincible Iron Man #7 (May 2016). She was created by Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Deodato. Williams donned the Ironheart suit first in Invincible Iron Man #6 (April 2017). Ironheart will get her own six-episode series on Disney+ coming in 2023.
Ludwig Göransson returns to score the sequel as he did in the 2018 film. Göransson is Childish Gambino‘s long-time Producer and has also composed The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Venom, and Tenet.
The film was originally set to release on May 6 and then for July 8, 2022. Just like most films over the past two years, dates have been shuffled due to the on-going pandemic.
Black Panther made nearly $1.4 billion in the box office, including $242.1 million over the four-day Presidents’ Day weekend. The 2018 film was one of the most successful solo films in the MCU. It is projected Wakanda Forever will around $175 million opening weekend.
We discussed the original film and talked a bit about Wakanda Forever during Episode 64 of the Capes and Tights Podcast with special guest co-host Paul Eaton.
