Black Panther is one of the most successful and critically acclaimed movies Marvel has yet released. There was never any question that it would get a sequel, but the surprise death of star Chadwick Boseman last year, after the actor fought a battle with colon cancer, threw things into doubt. Would it be better to cancel plans for a sequel, or retool it and continue?
At first, star Martin Freeman, who played CIA agent Everett Ross, thought Marvel would go with Option #1. But we now know that the movie is moving forward, although obviously writer-director Ryan Coogler will have to make some changes. We don’t know what they are, but Freeman hinted at their nature in a recent interview on The Late Late Show With James Corden.
“ took me through the film, but incorporating my character’s beats,” Freeman said. “Some of it was really, like, very odd. And I think he could see by the reaction on my face, some of the things he was saying — my face must have been going . He kept sort of saying, ‘Stay with me, but this is going to work.’”
“Very odd,” huh? That could mean a lot of things, and “odd” needn’t necessarily mean “bad.” And Freeman did later say that the movie will meet fans’ expectations. “People are going to be in for a treat.”
What will Black Panther: Wakanda Forever be about?
Although we can’t know for sure, our guess is that the sequel to Black Panther will focus on T’Challa’s sister Shuri (Letitia Wright), who takes up the mantle of Black Panther in the comics. At the least, Marvel boss Kevin Feige has assured everyone that they won’t use CGI to resurrect Boseman’s character, or recast him, or anything like that.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is due out in theaters on July 8, 2022.
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h/t ScreenCrush