Now that Valentine’s Day has come and gone, and Fifty Shades Freed‘s grip on the global box office is beginning to wane, all eyes are turning towards Black Panther.
Marvel’s Afrocentric spinoff, which has garnered a staggering amount of praise (our review) since the embargo broke earlier this month, is currently simmering at 97 percent over on Rotten Tomatoes – even if a group of spiteful armchair rebels plans to sabotage the film’s audience score.
So far, so good, then, and while box office forecasts have been off the charts ever since Black Panther began screening to critics, earlier today we heard that if all goes well, the spinoff may pull in a staggering $200 million this weekend. Failing that, a finish in the $160-$175 million range is almost a guarantee and as such, it shouldn’t be any surprise that chatter of a sequel has already begun.
Speaking to Variety in a recent interview, Marvel producer Kevin Feige wouldn’t outright confirm that any further solo outings for T’Challa are being developed – obviously – but he did strongly hint that this won’t be the last time we see the hero headline his own film.
“We always say we work on one movie at a time. If you have any good ideas, put it in the movie you’re making. If you don’t, you might not be able to make another one. That said, Panther has been around for more than half a century in the comic books and there are many, many stories to tell…”
Again, there’s no concrete confirmation here of a sequel, but as Feige says, there’s a lot more to explore with the character and tons of source material to draw from. Really, Ryan Coogler’s pic has only scratched the surface of what Black Panther has to offer and given how well people seem to be responding to what the director’s put together, it’s not too much of a stretch to say that he’ll probably return for the follow-up.
Until then, though, we can all sit back and watch as T’Challa claws his way to box office glory. Long live the king!