Black Panther 2 may be a ways off, but writer and director Ryan Coogler has just started working on the story. Coogler also co-wrote and directed the first film in the series, 2018’s wildly successful Black Panther. The movie starred Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa/Black Panther, the king of the fictional Wakanda. At the start of the film, T’Challa is still reeling from his father’s death during Captain America: Civil War, but returns home to assume the throne. His leadership is soon challenged by his cousin, Erik Stevens, a.k.a. Killmonger. Killmonger takes over the throne, but T’Challa is eventually able to defeat him. He tries to prevent his cousin’s death, but Killmonger opts to die free rather than spend the rest of his life imprisoned.

Little is known about Black Panther 2 so far, though Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige has said that there’s no truth to the rumors that Killmonger will appear in the sequel. One person who’ll be returning: Martin Freeman’s Everett Ross. In August, Freeman was asked about whether he would return to the MCU and said, “As far as I know, I will be in another Black Panther. That’s my understanding.” Freeman’s character, who’s a CIA agent, is one of the few outsiders to Wakanda in the original film. After Ross is injured in a fight, T’Challa breaks tradition and brings him home to be saved. Black Panther 2’s release date (May 6, 2022) confirms that it’ll be part of Marvel Phase 5, though it may not be the first film in that phase.

In a new interview with The Wall Street Journal, Disney CEO Bob Iger gave an update on the script for Black Panther 2. Speaking about Coogler’s progress, Iger mentioned that he’s “just beginning the process of outlining the story.” Coogler signed on to write and direct the sequel this time last year. Over the summer, Feige also mentioned that Coogler was working on the outline. However, since Freeman has mentioned that he doesn’t think the movie will film until 2021, Coogler still has plenty of time to complete the script.

This update on Black Panther 2 comes after a summer full of MCU announcements. Disney shared details about Marvel’s upcoming slate at both San Diego Comic-Con in July and its D23 Expo in August. The studio announced Thor: Love and Thunder and shocked fans with the reveal that Natalie Portman will play Mighty Thor in the film. They also shared that Mahershala Ali will be the new Blade and that Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) will play a role in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Additionally, the long-awaited Black Widow movie got a 2020 release date and a villain, Taskmaster.

Even with all the recent Marvel news, it’s not surprising that there hasn’t been much revealed about Black Panther 2 specifically. Most of the announcements from over the summer involved Phase 4 films, since those will obviously be released before the movies in Phase 5. Black Widow, for example, is already filming, so naturally there would have been more details about that. However, even when Coogler gets further along with his story, it’ll probably still be kept under wraps. Marvel is notoriously tight-lipped about specific MCU story details, and it seems likely they’ll follow the same logic for Black Panther 2.

More: SDCC 2019 Marvel News: Every Single MCU Reveal From Comic-Con

Source: The Wall Street Journal

  • Black Widow Release Date: 2021-07-09 The Eternals Release Date: 2021-11-05 Shang Chi Release Date: 2021-09-03 Doctor Strange 2 Release Date: 2022-05-06 Thor: Love and Thunder Release Date: 2022-07-08 Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Release Date: 2022-11-11