The Black Panther solo outing, set to be directed by Ryan Coogler (Creed) from a script he co-wrote with Joe Robert Cole, is currently in the process of casting with the film set to debut early in 2018. Now, Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige has teased one aspect of what fans can expect from the cast of Black Panther.
In an interview on The Empire Film Podcast [via ComicBook.com], Feige didn’t offer any specific names that will be included in Black Panther, but did praise the cast:
“That will be amongst the best ensembles we’ve ever had, and 90 percent of the cast is either African or African-American.”
In a related news, THR reports that Michael B. Jordan is joining the cast of 2018’s Black Panther movie and could be playing the film’s villain. Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong’o is also reportedly in talks for a role, also joining Boseman. This marks another exciting re-teaming of Jordan with director Ryan Coogler who immediately became a A-list talent in 2015 after not only directing Jordan and Sylvester Stallone (also rumored for an MCU role) in Creed but personally driving that movie into existence. Jordan and Coogler also previously worked together on Fruitvale Station.
There’s no doubt Coogler had a hand in making this casting a reality, but the other layer of interest to this news is how it crushes any strange possibility where Fox’s Fantastic Four movie can get a sequel that somehow merges with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Earlier today, Fantastic Four and X-Menwriter-producer Simon Kinberg went on record stating that if FF were to get a sequel (which hepreviously said is still a possibility but I disagree), it’d be more light and fun.
Captain America: Civil War is now in theaters, and is followed by Doctor Strange – November 2016; Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 – May 2017; Spider-Man: Homecoming – July 2017; Thor: Ragnarok – November 2017;Black Panther – February 2018; Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 – May 2018; Ant-Man and the Wasp – July 2018;Captain Marvel – March 2019; Avengers: Infinity War Part 2– May 2019; and as-yet untitled Marvel movies on July 2019, and on May, July and November in 2020.