After 2018’s Black Panther became both a $1.3 billion-grossing box office smash and a cultural landmark, Marvel couldn’t sign Ryan Coogler back on to write and direct a sequel fast enough. Coogler has been allowed to take his time with the story and various other projects he’s working on, so we won’t be seeing Black Panther II until 2022.

But it will likely be worth the wait, as Coogler nailed it the first time, and he’ll probably be given even more creative freedom by Marvel this time around. So, here are 10 Things That Could Happen In Black Panther II.

Wakanda goes to war with Atlantis

The fact that Okoye mentioned an underwater earthquake off the coast of Wakanda in Avengers: Endgame has been viewed by fans as definitive proof that Atlantis is finally coming to the MCU. It was previously teased on a S.H.I.E.L.D. map in Iron Man 2, way back in 2010, so it’s about time the undersea kingdom made its on-screen debut.

With Atlantis being so close to Wakanda, perhaps the two kingdoms will go to war in Black Panther II. One of the most highly praised aspects of Black Panther was its world-building, and bringing Atlantis into the story would expand that world-building significantly.

Shuri becomes the Black Panther

Letitia Wright has already said that she’d love for Shuri to consume the Heart-Shaped Herb (if some can be sourced – it was all destroyed in Black Panther, but some could probably be salvaged) and become the Black Panther. T’Challa’s teenage sister has quickly become a fan-favorite character, and we’ve seen her get in on the action with her vibranium-coated hand-cannons in the past.

To see her actually don a Black Panther suit and take on some bad guys with her greatest inventions would be really cool. For it to happen, T’Challa would have to be taken out of commission, but it doesn’t need to be a fatal wound.

White Wolf fights alongside Black Panther

Over the course of the past two Avengers movies, Bucky Barnes has become a bona-fide hero. He was never a bad guy, but he did get brainwashed by Hydra to do bad things, and he feared he hadn’t escaped from the clutches of that brainwashing. So, he got Shuri to put him to sleep until she could figure out a way to clear his head.

She managed that in time for the Black Order’s arrival, so he could help the Avengers fight Thanos. Now, Bucky is out in the world, fighting the good fight. It’s unclear what will happen in his upcoming Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, but Bucky owes a huge debt to Wakanda. Maybe he’ll join Black Panther in his standalone sequel.

We see how Wakanda coped for five years without its king

At the end of Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos came to Wakanda, ripped the Mind Stone out of the Vision’s head – completing his collection – and snapped his fingers, wiping out half of all life in the universe. Half the soldiers disappeared from the Wakandan battlefield, and among the victims was T’Challa, the African nation’s proud king.

Shuri was also “dusted,” so there wasn’t necessarily a new monarch in line. So, how did Wakanda cope for five years without a king? Did they democratically elect a new leader? What happened when T’Challa was snapped back into existence? Hopefully, the sequel will answer some of these questions.

Killmonger will appear in the Astral Plane

Marvel has been very clear that Erik Killmonger died at the end of Black Panther and he’s not coming back to life, because it would lessen the impact of his final scene in that movie, in which he asked T’Challa to bury him at sea. However, he can still appear in the sequel without coming back to life.

In Black Panther, T’Challa visited the Astral Plane a couple of times. This is a dimension in which all the past Black Panthers enjoy a peaceful eternal existence. Killmonger officially became a Black Panther before he died, so he might reappear in the Astral Place in Black Panther II.

Okoye will get a bigger role

Okoye, the personal protector of T’Challa played by Danai Gurira, has quickly become of the MCU’s most popular characters. She was one of the breakout stars of Black Panther, and her expanded presence in the past two Avengers movies – particularly in Endgame, since she was the only major Wakandan character left alive – has made her a fan favorite.

In the past, when this has happened with MCU characters, such as Loki, Groot, and Valkyrie, those characters have been given more exposure in subsequent movies. Marvel’s response to fans’ uproar over Endgame’s posters not giving billing to Gurira is a sign that the company is noticing the widespread affinity for Okoye.

T’Challa and Nakia successfully becoming platonic friends

In 2018’s Black Panther, Ryan Coogler and his co-writer Joe Robert Cole nicely subverted the tired formula for MCU love stories. Lupita Nyong’o’s character Nakia had previously dated the hero, T’Challa, and it didn’t work out. They both wanted different things – T’Challa loves his country and wants to stick around, whereas Nakia wants to see the world and explore new places – so they ended their relationship and tried to make it as friends.

T’Challa hinted that he still had feelings for Nakia, and he is more open-minded now, but it would be great to see this strengthen their friendship, as opposed to just bringing them back together, which we’ve seen before in a thousand other movies.

Wakanda expands its reach

At the end of Black Panther, T’Challa finally decided to open Wakanda’s gates and start sharing its resources with the world. He began by turning the apartment building in Oakland in which Killmonger’s father was killed into an outreach center. He also addressed the United Nations in the post-credits scene.

In the sequel, we’ll need to see this story thread continued, as Wakanda expands its reach across the world. Ryan Coogler has already said that we’ll see T’Challa grow as a king in Black Panther II, and offering vibranium to the wider world is something that no ruler in Wakanda’s history has ever done.

A romantic subplot with Storm

In the comics, T’Challa and Storm are one of the greatest power couples in the Marvel universe. Ororo Munroe married T’Challa and became the Queen of Wakanda. With the X-Men characters joining the MCU, it seems likely that this romance will be brought to the screen.

This might actually explain why the Black Panther sequel has been left until 2022. Marvel is going to take a while to integrate the Fantastic Four and the X-Men – characters that the studio just reacquired from 21st Century Fox in a landmark merger with Disney – into the MCU. This might be one of the first steps.

Namor will be the main villain

With the Atlantis tease in Endgame and the expectation that Wakanda will go to war with the undersea world in Black Panther II, Namor could appear as the sequel’s main villain. Fans have suggested dozens of their own casting choices for the Sub-Mariner, from Henry Golding to Keanu Reeves, so it’ll be fun to see who Marvel chooses, if Namor is going to be the villain in Black Panther II.

In the comics, T’Challa and Namor have an intense rivalry, and it’ll be great to see that brought to the screen. Whichever actor Marvel chooses will need to have terrific chemistry with Chadwick Boseman, just like Michael B. Jordan did in the first one.

  • Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Release Date: 2022-11-11