Wakanda Forever: Ryan Coogler Has Officially Signed On To Write And Direct 'Black Panther 2'

It’s official! Ryan Coogler quietly signed a deal with Marvel Studios “some time ago” to return to write and direct a sequel to his $1.3 billion smash ‘Black Panther’. After this Marvel milestone opened so amazingly, there was never any question as to whether or not there would be a sequel, but in this case, Marvel really wanted to keep the creative team as intact as possible for the follow-up. Though no details were revealed, it would make sense that Coogler would negotiate for a bigger paycheck. After all, until ‘Avengers: Infinity War’, ‘Black Panther’ reigned as Marvel’s top-grossing film.

Coogler is reportedly going to begin working on the script next year, with an eye on production beginning either in late 2019 or in early 2020. From that point, it will most likely be about a year before it hits theaters. Hopefully, fans can be patient. In the meantime, Coogler is lined up to direct the true story, ‘Wrong Answer’, with his frequent collaborator Michael B. Jordan (Erik Stevens a.k.a. Killmonger). He is executive producing ‘Creed II’, also starring Jordan, and ‘Space Jam’ starring LeBron James. Coogler directed the first ‘Creed’ but Steven Caple Jr. stepped in for the sequel.

Marvel has not scheduled any movies past ‘Avengers 4’ on May 3, 2019 and ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’ on July 5, 2019, but we also know a ‘Black Widow’ solo movie is coming, along with a new franchise-hopeful, ‘Eternals’. ‘Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3’ was also lined up, but…

‘Black Panther’ took in over $700 million domestically and $1.3 billion globally and Marvel is also pushing it for recognition from the Academy Awards, with many insiders believing that it may actually get it. But beyond that, the film became a cultural touchstone, especially among the African American population. Not only was this a major black superhero release, but the cast was mostly black, headed up by Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa, plus Jordan, Angela Bassett, Sterling K. Brown, Winston Duke, Danai Gurira, Daniel Kaluuya, John Kani, Lupita Nyong’o, Forest Whitaker and Letitia Wright.