For anybody who saw Captain America: Civil War (and statistically many of you have), you know that one of the standout characters is Black Panther, as played by Chadwick Boseman. He kicked six different varieties of ass and it got us all really excited for his upcoming solo movie slated for February 18, 2018. Now, a new report is saying that Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o will join him in his quest to save Wakanda.
The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Nyong’o will be joining the film to co-star alongside Boseman. They did not announce what character she’d be playing, but only that she’s a “love interest.” Nerdist has reached out to Marvel for separate confirmation but has not received a reply at time of publication. Nyong’o is already a much sought-after actress, stemming from her Best Supporting Actress win for 12 Years a Slave and her two recent performance capture roles in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and The Jungle Book. Makes sense she’d stay in the Disney family.
King T’Challa–Black Panther’s real name–has had many love interests in his time, many of which are badass ladies in their own right. His most famous partner was X-Men’s Ororo Munroe, aka Storm. That’s not going to happen given Fox owning the rights to the mutants and all, however there are several options for who it could be, including Okoye, a warrior who was one of T’Challa’s betrothed bodyguards–but that feels a little subservient for our liking. Our hope is for the character of Queen Divine Justice, the queen of the Jabari tribe of Wakanda, raised in Chicago. That’s just maybe the coolest name in the history of character names, so we’re really crossing our fingers here.
Black Panther is being directed and co-written by Creed‘s Ryan Coogler. The only other rumored cast member at the moment is Andy Serkis who would be reprising his role of Klaw, the arms dealer trying to get his hands on Wakanda’s Vibranium deposits (he was seen briefly in Avengers: Age of Ultron).
Let us know who you think Nyong’o could be playing in the comments below!
Here’s everything you need to know about T’Challa, courtesy of Dan Casey!
Image: StudioCanal
Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor for Nerdist. He’s got a lot of comics to read. Follow him on Twitter!
