Black Panther and Wakanda stepped into the spotlight over the weekend, bringing the Marvel Cinematic Universe its latest blockbuster hit.
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Looking at its massive box office success and accompanying critical acclaim, a Black Panther sequel is a given.
The character “has been around for more than half a century in the comic books and there are many, many stories to tell,” said Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige, who “absolutely” wants Black Panther writer-director Ryan Coogler to return for a sequel.
Black Panther 2 has yet to be formally announced, but it’s likely T’Challa and company will lay claim to one of Marvel’s yet-to-be-revealed Phase 4 projects in the works: the studio has the Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel out July 5, 2019, followed by unknown movies for May 1st, August 7th, and November 6th in 2020.
Whenever the inevitable sequel happens, here’s what we’re hoping to see.
More Wakanda
Black Panther introduces Wakanda as a lively and colorful utopia, full of intriguing traditions and eye-popping costume design. Its people are among the best received supporting cast of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and we can’t wait to get back to the former isolationist African nation.
Now that Wakanda has revealed itself to the world — similar to Tony Stark outing himself as a superhero in the final moments of Iron Man — how has that reveal affected T’Challa and his people? What effect does being an active part in the world have on the previously hidden away nation?
Black Panther‘s mid-credits scene perfectly sets the stage for a sequel, and this first outing just barely scratched the surface of Wakanda — the follow-up should explore even more of T’Challa’s home, the most technologically-advanced nation on Earth, taking us to places only glimpsed in our first visit.
More Shuri
Black Panther introduced T’Challa’s 16-year-old sister, super-genius inventor Shuri (played by Letitia Wright). Already a fan-favorite character and a breakout star, fans are calling for Shuri to get her own solo movie.
Wakanda’s chief techie could easily craft her own Black Panther suit — a path Shuri followed in the Marvel comic books — and join her brother as a second Black Panther. The Wakandan princess has already shown she strays away from tradition, so who’s to say Wakanda can’t have two Black Panthers in its ranks?
Whether she suits up or not, we want more Shuri.
More Okoye — and a girlfriend, too
Another scene-stealer in Black Panther is Okoye (The Walking Dead‘s Danai Gurira), also making her Marvel Cinematic Universe debut.
Fierce, charming, and badass, Wakandan loyalist and Dora Milaje general Okoye swiftly proved a fan-favorite, and if she makes it out of Avengers: Infinity War alive, she’s a must for the shared universe moving forward.
Okoye, who in the film has a relationship with the Border Tribe’s W’Kabi (Daniel Kaluuya), is rumored to have had a gay romance scene that was cut from the final product.
Black Panther was already revolutionary, but restoring a supposed hint of romance between Okoye and fellow Dora Milaje warrior Ayo in its sequel would tackle an aspect of every day life that Marvel Studios has yet to explore on the big screen.
Kraven the Hunter
We’ve already made our case for seven great villains who should menace T’Challa in Black Panther 2, and famous Spider-Man foe Kraven the Hunter stands chiefly among them.
It’s a long shot: the character’s rights are held by Sony, who were rumored to be have shown interest in developing a Kraven the Hunter movie, and Marvel told Coogler early on in development that Kraven was hands-off.
“I’ve always loved Kraven the Hunter in almost every iteration. So there was a moment – ‘Can I grab Kraven?’ – and they were ‘Nah, you don’t have Kraven,’” Coogler said. “He was one where I thought ‘Oh, man.’ But I don’t even know if he would have worked in the movie we ended up with, this was the early days.”
Marvel Studios has a deal with Sony that allows Marvel to effectively borrow the webhead for their shared cinematic universe, a deal that has so far extended to Spider-Man villains Vulture, Shocker, and Mac Gargan, the future Scorpion. Why not Kraven?
It might be unorthodox for Marvel to carve some sort of deal for a Spider-Man villain to appear in a movie without Spider-Man, but it could serve Sony well to allow one of their characters to be used in the sequel to a hit movie.
Storm of the X-Men
Fans have been calling for a Black Panther sequel to feature iconic X-Men member Storm, the weather-wielding goddess who once married T’Challa in the comic books.
Disney’s recent buyout of 21st Century Fox’s film and television assets would allow Marvel Studios to use Storm once the regulatory process surrounding the $52 billion dollar deal is complete after an estimated 12 to 18 months, giving Marvel the chance to debut the heroine in Black Panther 2.
Asked by ComicBook.com if he would have interest in bringing the fan-favorite relationship to the screen, Coogler admitted he “[doesn’t] even know enough about that acquisition to even talk about it.”
“If it’s something that goes through,” he added, “I can’t think of better hands for those characters to be in than Kevin [Feige]’s. I’ll say that.”
One of the many things Black Panther does best is its handling and development of its supporting characters, namely its female leads in Wright’s Shuri, Gurira’s Okoye, and Lupita Nyong’os Nakia.
What X-Men fan doesn’t want that kind of treatment for Storm, one of Marvel’s all-time most popular mutants?
Marvel Team-Up
One of the most attractive aspects of any Marvel Studios movie is its ability to have its diverse cache of characters intersect and interact.
Much like how Spider-Man: Homecoming saw Spidey get an assist from Iron Man and Thor: Ragnarok brought in rival-slash-buddy the Hulk, Black Panther 2 could bring in a second Marvel hero to give audiences that extra dose of Marvel Team-Up.
Whether that hero is Storm or an already-established Marvel Cinematic Universe character, Marvel has a plethora of good candidates to pick from.
Avengers: Infinity War will see many of Earth’s heroes make their way to Wakanda — including Bucky Barnes, Captain America, Black Widow, Falcon, Hulk, and War Machine — some of whom will be meeting T’Challa for the first time.
The interactions yet to come in Infinity War could give way to a future team-up possibility that would fully blossom in Black Panther 2, making the superhero epic a springboard for the Phase Four production.
Could Bucky remain in Wakanda following the events of Infinity War and Avengers 4? Could another superhero take refuge there following future events? Now that Wakanda is public, could something come its way in Black Panther 2 that forces other superheroes to get involved?
Ryan Coogler back in the director’s chair
First-time Marvel director Ryan Coogler sent the ball soaring into the parking lot with Black Panther, making his return for the sequel an absolute must.
Marvel Studios tends to retain its directors more often than not — Jon Favreau, James Gunn, Peyton Reed, and Joe and Anthony Russo are among the filmmakers to return at least once — and though he’s one of the hottest rising talents in Hollywood, there’s no better candidate for Black Panther 2 than Coogler.
Coogler pulled off world-building and simultaneously developed a well-rounded and beloved cast of characters, lending Marvel Studios its best-received movie yet, and his involvement with a sequel would mean the movie could hit the ground running with a capable filmmaker who has already proved, without a doubt, that he gets this world.
Black Panther is now playing.
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