Production is set to get underway on the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Black Panther 2 in just over two months, in what’s going to be a bittersweet experience for director Ryan Googler, the cast and the crew.
The sequel comes burdened with massive expectations, not just as the follow-up to a cultural landmark that hauled in over $1.3 billion at the box office and scored an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture, but as a continuation of a franchise anchored by Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa.
It’s a very difficult balancing act to pull off, but Coogler believes Boseman would have wanted them to continue telling stories without him, and Black Panther 2Â will look to both live up to and enhance the late star’s legacy. Plot details remain firmly under wraps for now, and there hasn’t been any major casting news for a while since Narcos: Mexico star Tenoch Huerta was added as a mystery villain, but we’ve heard that an MCU favorite could be set for a return to Wakanda.
According to our intel – which comes from the same sources who told us Tony Leung’s Mandarin would be revealed as the title hero’s father in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings long before it was confirmed – Sebastian Stan might be heading back to Wakanda for a cameo in the sequel. Bucky Barnes obviously has very close ties to the nation given that they harbored him after Captain America: Civil War and gave him a fancy new arm, while he also handed Zemo over to the Dora Milaje in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
There’s no word on how he would factor into things, but Black Panther 2Â is set to tie closer into the wider MCU mythology than the first movie, and Bucky could be a key part of bridging the gap given his connections to almost all of the Avengers.
