28th July 2021
It will have been over four and half years since Black Panther was released. Three and half years since Avengers: Engame, and, if we include the five Earth years gap that the Black Panther had to endure in the Quantum Realm, the year would be 2023 in the Marvel Cinematic Universe but 2022 in ours, with a release date for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever set for July 2022.
If you think too hard about the years in the MCU you’ll end up in an asylum very quickly so best ignored for the time being.
The truth is, Chadwick Boseman sad death threw Black Panther into disarray. Some called for a full reset, some for CGi experts to continue with T’Challa, but common sense and humility winning with Marvel correctly choosing not to recast T’Challa at all. Producer Feige also confirmed this himself which is great to hear.
There will be rumours that T’Challa sustained a lethal form of injury during Endgame, unseen at Tony Stark’s funeral which sees him pass, with a new King to be crowned at the start of Wakanda forever.
This opens options, and opportunity aplenty. Michael B. Jordan has expressed interest to work with director Ryan Coogler again, however his in-film “death” and subsequent return to life would raise eyebrows. Money is everything in the film industry and bringing Killmonger back would bring plenty of loose change to the box office.
Martin Freeman, who played CIA agent Everett Ross will return as will Lupita Nyong’o as Nakia and Danai Gurira as Okoye (Could either of them take on the lead role?). Freeman is said to have read the latest script and be “excited” by it.
There are serious question marks over Letitia Wright though. There were rumours she might be the new version of Ironman (Or Ironwoman) given her expertise in tech and sarcastic personality however some personal tweets about vaccinations may see Disney and Marvel cut ties. Letitia is still listed as a member of the cast on Wikipedia though so rumours will persist on this for a while.
Angela Bassett as Ramonda and Winston Duke as M’Baku will definitely return at the time of writing too so there will be plenty of familiar faces.
Where the story goes is currently unclear. Producer Kevin Feige has confirmed that Wakanda Forever has been written with a new villain included but that was back in 2019 so some fine tuning will be needed to get that up to speed.
It will focus on Wakanda now existing and open to the World. This brings with it a host of problems as any customs officer will tell you. Add to that the fact you can go shopping for Vibranium and every terrorist in the World will choose it for their next holiday vacation, let alone those in product development from Lovehoney.
Whilst a tourist issue sounds the most simple, some suggest Atlantis could make an appearance with Namor The Sub-Mariner coming in. For those not familiar with the comics, it’s basically Marvels versions of DC’s Aquaman. Namor could start a War with Wakanda to get hold of, yes, you guessed it, Vibranium, which isn’t underwater and to be honest, how much fish and chips can you eat without wanting something different eventually.
We at WhichFilm.com are sceptical of the above.
There are no real clues that Wakanda Forever will link into other MCU films in the making. But, the likes of Spiderman: No Way Home and Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will most likely link into it somehow, no matter how subtle, given how they’re all buddies and it’s part of Phase 4 to keep them interconnected.
Michaela Coel, famous for “I May Destroy You” by HBO is definitely involved but her role is currently unspecified. Could a Black Pantheress be in the offing?
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will be released July 8th 2022 and we will endeavour to add more information to this article when and where possible. Suffice it is to say that it will keep people guessing and the rumour mill rolling over the next 12 months.
Have you seen these?
