According to The Hollywood Reporter, The Walking Dead star Danai Gurira has recently signed on to reprise her role as Okoye, the general of the Dora Milaje, in Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther spinoff for Disney+, which is being described as an origin series. It’s unclear whether or not this is also the same project as the previous Wakanda series that was first reported to be in development last February.
In addition, it has also been confirmed that Gurira is officially returning for Marvel Studios’ upcoming MCU sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which is set to begin its production sometime this year in Atlanta. Gurira’s Okoye had first appeared in 2018’s acclaimed superhero film Black Panther, which was followed by back-to-back appearances in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
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Based on the Marvel Comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will continue to explore the incomparable world of Wakanda and all of the rich and varied characters introduced in the first film. It will once again be directed and written by Ryan Coogler.
Further details about the sequel’s plot are still being kept under wraps, but Kevin Feige previously confirmed that Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa would not be recast. Most of the first film’s cast is expected to return with the new addition of Tenoch Huerta (Narcos: Mexico), who has reportedly been cast as the antagonist.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is currently slated to hit theaters on July 8, 2022, nearly two years following the untimely passing of titular star and acclaimed actor Chadwick Boseman, who died at the age of 43 after his four-year-long private battle with colon cancer.
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Black Panther received seven nominations at the 91st Academy Awards, including Best Picture, with wins for Best Costume Design, Best Original Score, and Best Production Design. Black Panther is the first superhero film to receive a Best Picture nomination and the first MCU film to win an Academy Award. It also received three nominations at the 76th Golden Globe Awards, two wins at the 25th Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three wins at the 24th Critics’ Choice Awards from 12 nominations, among others.
