Marvel TV Head Confirms Fate of Black Panther Spinoff Series (and It’s Not Good)

Black Panther‘s Okoye still has a future in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it just won’t be as the headliner of a Black Panther spinoff series. There was a time when Marvel was reportedly working on a World of Wakanda spinoff series starring Danai Gurira’s Okoye, leader of the Dora Milaje. Gurira has offered vague comments in the past when asked about the Okoye series, but there hasn’t been much news on that front in several months. We now have a more definitive answer from Brad Winderbaum, Marvel’s head of TV, streaming, and animation. But it’s not the good news that Okoye fans were hoping for.

Brad Winderbaum was a guest on Pay Or Wait, where he was asked what the status was on an Okoye series. “I love Okoye. I think fans of Okoye are going to be excited to see her come back,” Winderbaum said. “But I don’t think it’s going to be on a television show. I can’t say where or when, but I think there’s a lot to look forward to.”

It’s quite possible that Marvel Studios decided to pivot an Okoye World of Wakanda series into the animated Eyes of Wakanda that will debut on Disney+ later this year. Eyes of Wakanda debuts August 6th and is a four-part animated anthology series that follows warriors throughout Wakandan history who are tasked with traveling the world to retrieve Vibranium artifacts. According to Winderbaum, it’s the Marvel Animation series most tied to the MCU.

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“Eyes of Wakanda, more than any other show we’re doing in animation, ties directly into the MCU,” Winderbaum told Marvel’s Official Podcast. “This is a story about Wakandan history. It’s produced by Ryan Coogler and directed by Todd Harris, who is one of our longtime storyboard artists who I first met when he designed the Hulk vs. Thor fight in [Thor] Ragnarok.”

“It’s an awesome show. The action is insane and the storytelling is fantastic. It’s both about the history of Wakanda, but also expands into the greater MCU at different time periods,” Winderbaum continued. “If you’re a fan of the movies, I think this show is going to be a real treat.”

Fans last saw Okoye in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, where she was kicked out of the Dora Milaje by Queen Ramonda, after Namor kidnapped Shuri and Riri Williams. Okoye would later rejoin Wakanda in the fight against Namor and Talocan, adopting the Midnight Angels armor Shuri revealed earlier in the film.

“I’ve been told I can speak of it vaguely. So, I will vaguely respond,” Danai Gurira told ET on the red carpet of the 95th Academy Awards in 2023 when asked about an Okoye series. “However, I guess the idea behind the story like that, if one were to exist, would be to explore the character in ways that we haven’t done yet. But who knows?”

Danai Gurira also addressed these Okoye spinoff rumors during an appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert in January 2023. “I have been told that I can gently allude to this possibility,” she said at the time. “So, I am gently alluding, just gently.”

Are you bummed out to find out there won’t be a Black Panther spinoff featuring Okoye? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.