Fans will have to wait a little longer to see Black Panther: Wakanda Forever after it was pushed back four months as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase Four reshuffle, taking the November 2022 date that previously belonged to The Marvels.
Director Ryan Coogler and his team are under immense pressure to deliver a sequel that lives up to expectations, and that’s without even considering how the movie is set to deal with the tragic loss of leading man Chadwick Boseman, as well as the legacy he left behind as T’Challa.
The first installment is the top-grossing non-Avengers film in MCU history, the franchise’s highest-rated installment in either film or television on Rotten Tomatoes, and the only entry in the superhero series to land an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. That’s a lot to live up to, so it’s no surprise that producer Nate Moore admitted during an interview with Variety at the Eternals world premiere that Wakanda Forever has big shoes to fill.
“We’re shooting in Atlanta and it’s going really well. Ryan Coogler’s back and he’s fantastic and the crew is back and we know we have big shoes to fill and we just want a film that, hopefully, people can respond to and be entertained by and get some catharsis by spending time with. That’s a tall order, but we want to be up to the challenge. Yeah, in their own ways, in sort of personal and private ways. But the truth is the biggest honor is to maintain that story of Wakanda. Chad knew, I think before any of us, how important it could be for people. So it’s our job to keep that spirit alive so that kids can continue to find that world and find themselves in that world.”
The backlash swirling around Letitia Wright can’t have helped matters, especially when she’s widely expected to inherit the mantle of the title hero by the time the credits roll, but we’ve got every faith that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will be able to deliver the goods when it comes to theaters thirteen months from now.
