Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War is still currently dominating the box-office all around the globe – set to surpass $1 billion worldwide in the coming couple of days – but all eyes and focus have turned to what the future holds for the MCU, most notably the solo outing for one of Civil War‘s breakout stars: T’Challa, a.k.a. Black Panther.
As we already know, Chadwick Boseman is set to reprise his Civil War role as the now Wakandan King and eponymous hero for the film and Ryan Coogler – who helmed the exceptional Rocky reboot/sequel/spin-off Creed and 2013’s brilliant Fruitvale Station – is on directing duties. Other than that though, all had been quiet on the Black Panther news front for a while. We did however hear, the other day, that Academy-award winning actress Lupita Nyong’o was rumoured to be joining the project and, now, some new casting news has revealed that Michael B. Jordan will be joining the already stellar cast too and heading to the MCU for the film.
Jordan has become a bit of a breakout actor within the past few years, after his exceptional performance in Fruitvale Station then Creed as our eponymous boxer. Both those films were helmed by Coogler, who is also directing Black Panther, so it doesn’t come as much of a surprise that Jordan will be re-teaming with the director for the project. Now, which character he will play remains a mystery but some fan ideas from the Internet suggest he could be potentially be taking on a role as the film’s antagonist, Achebe from the comics; others have suggested the actor may T’Challa’s adopted brother White Wolf. Honestly, the possibilities are endless but seeing as Jordan has hit A-list stature now, we can presume he’ll have a large role in the film.
Of course, if you cast your mind back to last Summer’s disastrous Fantastic Four reboot (I know it’s hard because of how bad that film was and how much you want to forget it but just try) then you’ll remember that Jordan had a role in the film as Johnny Storm, a.k.a. The Human Torch, so superhero films aren’t new to him. This also won’t be the first time that a Human Torch actor has joined the MCU as 2005’s Fantastic Four gave us Chris Evans, who is now irreplaceable as our beloved Steve Rogers/Captain America so, perhaps we could be seeing just as bright a future in the MCU for Jordan too. Also, if you recall the Civil War post-credits scene, there’s a possibility Evans himself may even appear – in some capacity – in Black Panther too so we may very possibly see both Human Torches share the screen together at their new homes in the MCU: how cool would that be!
With a stellar ensemble already taking shape (and only 3 actors have been announced) featuring Chadwick Boseman, Lupita Nyong’o and Michael B. Jordan (here’s to hoping Evans joins too; after all, he is stuck in Wakanda now so it’s certainly plausible), with the talented Ryan Coogler directing, Black Panther is shaping up to be something truly special and you have every reason to be as excited as you are for this film (I honestly cannot wait to see this now). We still have a long wait though as the film doesn’t open in the U.K until July 6th, 2018.
