Disney+ Reveals Black Panther: Wakanda Forever's Actual Release Date After Rumors

Days after it was rumored Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was hitting Disney+ on January 20th, the service itself has confirmed that's not the case. Instead of debuting on the stream later this month, the critically acclaimed Ryan Coogler sequel will debut on the service on February 1st.

The news was made with little fanfare as Disney+ simply added a page for the film on its service, saying the movie would be added on February 1, 2023.

Through Monday, the follow-up has grossed a sizable $820 million at the worldwide box office, a total allowing Disney to keep the film in theatres longer than its shortened pandemic-era release window. Despite the commercial success, Marvel Studios has yet to officially green light a third film in the franchise.

"That's a great question. To be honest, this is not me trying to not answer the question," Marvel Studios producer Nate Moore said in chat with Collider last November when asked about a third film. "We really want to see how audiences receive the film, and I think Ryan's really interested to see how the film plays before we decide. There are certainly ideas we've floated around of what a third film could be if we get to make it. But until the movie comes out, we're a bit superstitious in that way. We don't want to count our chickens, because you never know what's going to happen."

Now in theaters, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever follows Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Shuri (Letitia Wright), M'Baku (Winston Duke), Okoye (Danai Gurira) and the Dora Milaje (including Florence Kasumba) as they fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T'Challa's death. As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with the help of War Dog Nakia (Lupita Nyong'o) and Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) and forge a new path for the kingdom of Wakanda.  It has yet to be seen where the Midnight Angels tie into the story.

Introducing Tenoch Huerta as Namor, king of a hidden undersea nation, the film also stars Dominique Thorne, Michaela Coel, Mabel Cadena and Alex Livanalli.