Black Panther Star Thinks Sequel Could Start Shooting in 2021

Many audiences thought Marvel Studios would confirm details about a Black Panther sequel at this year's San Diego Comic-Con, only for president Kevin Feige to avoid confirmation of the follow-up film's timeline, though one star thinks the film could start shooting in 2021. Martin Freeman, who played Everett Ross in the film, recently claimed that he expected to appear in the film, despite no release details being confirmed. Marvel Studios currently has release dates slated for February, May, and July of 2022, with many theories believing Black Panther, Captain Marvel, and Guardians of the Galaxy sequels will all earn these unannounced release dates.

"The last I heard, we won't be doing it next year," Freeman shared with Uproxx. "So, it might be 2021 when we're making the next Black Panther. That's all I know."

One of the biggest questions for virtually every member of the MCU after the release of Avengers: Infinity War was whether or not their character survived Thanos' deadly snap. In Avengers: Endgame, Tony Stark used the Infinity Gauntlet to bring all of the dead characters back to life, which would have included Everett Ross, were he to have perished. Regardless of what happened to Ross, Freeman confirmed his character is alive.

"I think so, yeah," the actor confirmed when asked if he survived the snap. "No one's told me that he died."

The original Black Panther has become one of the biggest movies of all time, ultimately going on to earn $1.3 billion worldwide. The film wasn't just a hit with fans, but also with critics, as the film sits at 96% positive reviews on aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes with nearly 500 tallied reviews. The film's success rests, in large part, on the effectiveness of Michael B. Jordan's Killmonger, who died in the film's finale. Despite his passing, fans speculated that he could somehow return in the upcoming sequel.

"Pure rumor," Feige revealed to BET earlier this year about Killmonger's return.

While Feige could seemingly dispell that rumor, all of the details about the film are likely unknown, as filmmaker Ryan Coogler only began writing the sequel earlier this summer.

"The honest answer to that is that is pure rumor and speculation, because Mr. Coogler is just only in recent weeks sitting down at his keyboard and beginning to outline the movie," Feige explained. "It's early, so nothing is set yet in any way that far, because Mr. Coogler is sitting down and will share it with [producer] Nate Moore and myself in coming weeks."

Stay tuned for details on Black Panther 2.

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