‘Black Panther 2’ director explains his meta reasons for casting a key newcomer

Next month, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is out. It features returning franchise players, brings in some newcomers, and, according to director Ryan Coogler, one got into the piece because of her standout way of being an entertainer in today’s world.

The sentiment is expressed by the 36-year-old in a new article published about Michaela Coel published in Vogue earlier today. Essentially, the actress who plays Aneka and was the first Black woman to win an Emmy for writing is a pioneer and so, it only makes sense she plays a queer character who is looked down upon by Wakandan society in the comic book source material.

“Aneka, the character Michaela plays, is kind of a rebel. It made a lot of meta sense with Michaela being someone who is pushing the industry forward and carving out her own space.”

Elsewhere in the article, Coel says she is not ready to talk about what she is going to choose to do next. She also adds she hopes her character strikes a chord with people in her parents’ native Ghana and her mom says her work on I May Destroy You was inspiring.

“For Coel’s mother, Kwenua Osborne, I May Destroy You signaled the moment she would find her own voice. Empowered by her daughter’s unflinching series, Osborne was compelled to share her experience with sexual violence, a family secret she had all but buried. ‘For Michaela to turn what happened to her into a show—for a lot of people to see and be touched by it, and for some to come out and say, ‘this happened to me,’ is just so inspiring,’ says Osborne, a mental-​health nurse who suffered abuse at the hands of someone she knew when she was a child. ‘And because it touched me personally, I had to open up and tell her everything.’”

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever opens Nov. 11 in the United States. It concludes the fourth phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is designed as a meditation on loss in the wake of Chadwick Boseman’s death and appears to feature a female successor to his T’Challa, though, who exactly will end up in the suit has not yet been revealed specifically as of this story being filed. Some think there is misdirection in what has been seen so far, while others are excited for Namor to debut and say he has a bright future.