Come 2018, Michael B. Jordan will make it three for three on Ryan Coogler collaborations, adding Black Panther to a résumé that already boasts the excellent Creed and Jordan’s breakout hit, Fruitvale Station.
As the actor reveals in a post-SDCC interview with MTV News, reuniting with Coogler was ostensibly a no-brainer, even if Jordan’s last foray into the genre (read: Josh Trank’s calamitous Fantastic Four redo) proved largely forgettable.
When pressed about his feelings of playing the lead villain in Black Panther – Erik Killmonger, as was revealed during SDCC – Jordan revealed that it’s “always something [he] wanted to do” to allow him to “play something completely different than anything [he’s] done before.” That’s a refreshing assessment from the actor, and you can see his full response via the embedded video below.
In related news, earlier today we brought you some fleeting details regarding Dora Milaje, the special forces unit found in Wakanda. Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave) will be one half of the crack team, playing Nakia to Danai Gurira’s Okoye. The Oscar-winning actress also outlined some early story details pertaining to Coogler’s feature which are, as you would expect, general teases as opposed to narrative specifics.
“The story of this Black Panther is — what am I allowed to say? – The story is that the Black Panther’s leadership is really threatened by two foes who come together, and so Black Panther gets the help of the C.I.A. and the Dora Milaje to try and defeat the enemy.”
Rubbing shoulders with Avengers: Infinity War – Part 1 and Ant Man and the Wasp on the 2018 slate, Black Panther is set to land on July 6, 2018. Production on Ryan Coogler’s origin story is expected to begin in the early stages of 2017.
