Anthony Mackie Shares A 'Black Panther 2' Update
One of the benefits of having a solidified and established cinematic universe is that anyone can pop up anywhere at any time. Last year, we had a crossover of fan and critical success with Spider-Man: No Way Home. The highly anticipated Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness expects to bring in lots of different people and characters. After all, it is now a norm to expect any character to pop into a movie whether it is in a post-credit stinger like in Morbius or to help push along the plot like Doctor Strange in Thor: Ragnorok.
Anthony Mackie, the new Captain America as announced here and in the finale of the Disney+ series The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, was on the red carpet for the 2022 Grammy’s and shared some news from the Marvel Universe:
“I'm very excited to say that [Black Panther: Wakanda Forever] just wrapped filming. It's gonna be amazing, it's going to be spectacular. I am not [in it], but I've seen—I've been there, I've witnessed. I'm very excited for everybody to see Black Panther 2. It's in the can, it's in the coming out, it's done.”
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This is great news for a couple of reasons. First, fans were starting to wonder what the status of the oft-troubled movie and its release date of November 2022 was standing. Between the death of actor Chadwick Boseman, the on-set injury of Letitia Wright during a stunt (not to mention her on-set issues which delayed filming for two months), and the unfortunate police incident with director Ryan Coogler, the film has seen so many delays that people begin to wonder if the film was cursed. Thankfully, it looks like we have reached the end of filming and we are still on track for a November release. However, it was interesting that Mackie said that he was there on site. Normally, this is not a strange occurrence, as I am sure Mackie is friends with some of the actors, but now everything is being viewed with a raised eyebrow.
The last time we saw the Falcon, he had taken on the mantle of Captain America with his own unique spin. Thanks to vibranium and Wakanda technology, he is able to fly and wield Captain America’s shield. There is a crossover opportunity as the Falcon would probably want to thank the Wakanda team for their generous gift. Secondly, we know that the OG Captain America, Steven Rogers, has a special “Get this man a shield” connection to the country of Wakanda so it would make sense that the new Captain America will maintain that working relationship.
What do we know about Black Panther: Wakanda Forever so far? While the plot has not been revealed yet, we know the characters that are expected to return include Nakia (Lupita Nyong'o), Queen Mother Ramonda (Angela Bassett), M’Baku (Winston Duke), Agent Everett K. Ross (Martin Freeman), W’Kabi (Daniel Kaluuya), Ayo (Florence Kasumba), and Okoye (Danai Gurira).
Martin Freeman gave us some insight by sharing his reaction to the movie in an interview on the James Corden show:
“[Ryan Coogler] sort of meticulously took me through all of my character's beats in the film. He took me through the film, but incorporating my character's beats. Some of it was very odd, and I think he could see from the reaction on my face to some of the things he was saying. He kept sort of stopping, and he kept going, 'Stay with me, but this is going to work. I mean, we've not done it yet, who knows, we might make it awful, but I'm hoping we won't. I hope people will be in for a treat."
In addition to the potential appearance of Anthony Mackie in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, other rumors swirling around include the possibility of Tenoch Huerta playing villain Namor the Submariner in the movie. We may also see the debut of Ironheart actress Riri Williams in the title role ahead of the debut of her Disney+ series in 2023. No matter what, this is really a golden age for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
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Source(s): The Direct, Deadline, Entertainment Tonight