It’s almost time for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, The movie greatly reminds us of the MCU’s very real strength and the humanity and relatability of its characters. The 30th MCU movie is the sequel to the 2018 megahit Black Panther and stands as a touching tribute to that film’s late star Chadwick Boseman.
Black Panther 2 is expected to have the third biggest opening of the “pandemic era” after Spider-Man: No Way Home ($568M) and Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness ($429M). As reported by Deadline the sequel is expected to take in between $175M-$185 million from the US markets and another $180M+ overseas for a worldwide total of $355M – $365M.
Important Insights
There’s only one Chadwick and he can’t be replaced. Since Black Panther’s first premier in February 2018, fans have been waiting for a sequel. It is crystal clear that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is going to be very different than the first film. After Chadwick Boseman died of colon cancer at age 43 in August 2020, the filmmakers were compelled to rethink a sequel that would work without his character.
In December 2020, Disney announced that a new actor would not be hired to fill the role, adding that the new movie would focus on other characters within the world of Wakanda, the fictional African country where T’Challa was king. “Honoring Chadwick Boseman’s legacy & portrayal of T’Challa, Marvel Studios will not recast the character, but will explore the world of Wakanda & the rich characters introduced in the first film,” the company tweeted.
Marvel executive Victoria Alonso has also said the studio has no plans to digitally recreate Boseman’s image for the film. “There’s only one Chadwick and he’s not with us,” she told the Argentinean outlet Clarin in November 2020. “Our king, unfortunately, has died in real life, not just in fiction, and we are taking time to see how we continue the story and what we do to honor this chapter of what has happened to us that was so unexpected, so painful, so terrible, really.”
Black Panther 2 Cast
The sequel brings a familiar group back to the big screens, starting with director Coogler, who also co-wrote the first film’s screenplay. Letitia Wright is back as T’Challa’s sister, Shuri; Winston Duke returns as warrior M’Baku; and Angela Bassett is back as Ramonda, mother of T’Challa and Shuri. In addition, Danai Gurira, who plays Okoye, head of the Dora Milaje, Wakanda’s all-female special forces, is back, and so is Martin Freeman, who plays CIA agent Everett Ross.
Similarly, a major new character will be Riri Williams/Ironheart, a genius teen inventor, and the one seen in the trailer building her own iron suit with a heart cutout. After the movie, she’ll be seen again in an upcoming Disney Plus streaming series called Ironheart.
Acclaimed British writer, director, and actor Michaela Coel plays Aneka, who in the comics was kicked out of the Dora Milaje, but in the trailer appears to be fighting alongside them. Tenoch Huerta is playing Namor the Sub-Mariner, a longtime favorite character from the comics. The trailer shows him leading the forces of underwater Atlantis against Wakanda.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will hit theaters near you on November 11, and by that time we can enjoy the awesome trailer.
Watch the Trailer
