“Black Panther,” a film that was
part of the epically-long “Phase 3” period of Marvel Studios’ MCU franchise,
premiered in 2018 to a resounding reception. A lot has already been said about
its predominantly African-American casting and director, plus its adaptation of
an African Marvel superhero from a highly-advanced Afro-futurist nation in that
continent. Reprisals of the character in subsequent MCU movies got audiences
excited for the sequel, only to be quashed last year by the passing of actor Chadwick
Boseman who portrayed Black Panther/King T’Challa of Wakanda. But not only is
the sequel still on even without the star, a series is being planned with the
original director too.
CNBC reports that “Black Panther” director Ryan Coogler has entered
a five-year deal with Disney to develop several exclusive programming across
the media giant’s various platforms. One of the possible projects is a
streaming series set in the MCU that will be part of that franchise’s exclusive
content on Disney+. Said series will be set in Wakanda, the Vibranium-using
country that is home to the Black Panther. It will join the slate of other MCU
shows on that platform that will organically connect with the MCU films
premiering in cinemas.
Disney executive chairman Bob
Iger described Coogler as a standout director for this generation of filmmakers
in the movie industry, with a vision and range that had him realize such
blockbusters as “Rocky” sequel “Creed” in 2015, pairing Sylvester “Rocky”
Stallone as the aged boxing legend and mentor to Michael B. Jordan’s Donny
Creed. Jordan also portrayed the antagonist Killmonger in Coogler’s other
signature film, “Black Panther” from Marvel Studios, part of MCU Phase 3. The
director is also bringing his production label Proximity Media into the Disney
partnership deal, which he calls an honor adding, “We're already in the mix on
some projects that we can't wait to share."
Meanwhile, development work on “Black
Panther II” continues even without its late lead star Chadwick Boseman. His
costars Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o Winston Duke and Angela Bassett are all reprising,
but T’Challa will not be recast nor be replaced with a CGI double, according to
Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige.
Boseman died in August last year of
colon cancer, a disease he had actually been diagnosed with since 2016 (circa
first appearance in “Captain America: Civil War”), but kept secret from
cast-mates and the studio while filming “Black Panther,” “Avengers: Infinity
War” and “Avengers: Endgame.”
Image courtesy of ComicBook.com
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