The next entry in the Black Panther series, Wakanda Forever has officially entered production in Atlanta. Wakanda Forever will be a direct sequel to the first Black Panther movie, however, we know very little about the story at this point in time.
The first movie, Black Panther, was a tremendous success receiving widespread critical praise and grossed an estimated $1.3 billion globally. Although the film was set in a fictional African country, it was one of the first Marvel films to feature a predominantly black cast.
Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman, who played the protagonist played T’Challa, passed away in 2020 due to cancer. There were doubts about the future of the franchise. Boseman did such a fantastic job of portraying king T’Challa in the movie, that a recast seemed unlikely.
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige spoke about the legacy set of Boseman in a recent interview with Variety: “It’s clearly very emotional without Chad. But everyone is also very excited to bring the world of Wakanda back to the public and back to the fans.”
Wakanda Forever
Marvel has been pretty tight-lipped about the sequel so far. However, it released a synopsis for the film back in May.
“Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will continue to explore the incomparable world of Wakanda and all the rich and varied characters introduced in the first film. Written and directed by Ryan Coogler, who was behind Black Panther, the film will be released on July 8, 2022.”
While it doesn’t give too much away, it looks like the film will focus more on the country of Wakanda. Should the director decide to focus on a character, it will probably be T’Challa’s sister Shuri.
Production for the film began yesterday (July 29) in Atlanta. With production now under way, we can likely expect more information to trickle out over the coming months.
A fan petition
A fan petition which circulated earlier this year asked Marvel to recast the character of T’Challa following the actor’s death. Over 35,000 people have signed the petition, which asks for the recasting of T’Challa in the Black Panther universe.
It would seem Disney has pushed on without T’Challa in the new sequel. However, the studio will probably include some kind of homage or tribute to the late actor and super hero.
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