Danai Gurira and Lupita Nyong’o Tease Their ‘Black Panther’ Characters

With Black Panther‘s release date fast approaching, fans are hoping to discover more about the film’s new cast of characters. And thankfully, two of the film’s female leads are here to help.

In a recent interview with USA Today, Danai Gurira and Lupita Nyong’o previewed their characters in the upcoming Marvel Studios film. Gurira will be playing Okoye, a leader of the Dora Milaje who is fiercely loyal to T’Challa/Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), as well as the nation of Wakanda.

“It’s her job to take care of it, and she takes that job seriously,” Gurira explained, adding that the afro-futurist world of Wakanda is an “astoundingly cool” place. “It’s a world that is utterly plausible and tangible and yet a little larger than life at the same time.”

In Nyong’o’s case, she will be playing Nakia, a “war dog” with a “significant” relationship to T’Challa.

“She’s very passionate about her work,” Nyong’o revealed. But as T’Challa is met with opposing forces, Nakia will have “to decide where her allegiance lies and what comes first.”

The female characters of Black Panther have been something that fans have been looking forward to for quite some time, especially considering the amount of Marvel Comics canon they have between them. And according to Nyong’o, the film won’t have it’s female characters at odds with each other.

“Ryan made a point of avoiding the expected female-rival narrative.” Nyong’o explained in a recent interview. “In this genre, where spandex is involved, oftentimes the women are pitted against each other. In our story, there are so many different women holding their own space. Women may be in competition with each other, sure, but that doesn’t necessarily mean there’s an absence of love or respect.”

Black Panther opens in theaters on February 16, 2018.

Other upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include Avengers: Infinity War on May 4, 2018, Ant-Man and the Wasp on July 6, 2018, Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019, the fourth Avengers movie on May 3, 2019, the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming on July 5, 2019, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3in 2020.