Michaela Coel Joins ‘Black Panther 2’ Cast
Another major star is joining Black Panther: Wakanda Forever: Michaela Coel, the creator and star of the critically acclaimed HBO series I May Destroy You (ScreenCrush’s pick for the #1 TV show of 2020), has reportedly signed on for an undisclosed role in the big Marvel sequel.
According to Variety, “Character details are locked up per usual, though insiders said Coel has joined director Ryan Coogler at Atlanta’s Pinewood Studios, where production began last month. Marvel Studios declined to comment on the matter.” Besides I May Destroy You, Coel has also been seen in Netflix’s Black Mirror and the British sitcom Chewing Gum. (She also had a small role in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.)
Now the speculation will turn to who she could be playing in the film. The plot of Black Panther 2 is still unknown, although Marvel has made it very clear they will not recast the late Chadwick Boseman’s role as T’Challa, the King of Wakanda and the Black Panther. So who becomes the new Black Panther? And what happens to Wakanda in T’Challa’s absence? There are a lot of ways the story could potentially go.
Returning characters in the film from the first Black Panther include Letitia Wright’s Shuri, Winston Duke’s M’Baku, Danai Gurira’s Okoye, Martin Freeman’s Everett Ross, Angela Bassett’s Ramonda, and Lupita Nyong’o’s Nakia. Any of them strike you as a potential Black Panther? Really most of them (except Martin Freeman, sorry dude) could inherit that role. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is scheduled to open in theaters on July 8, 2022. It’s less than a year away now.