Marvel Studios has already wrapped up filming for their three 2017 movies - Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Thor: Ragnarok - and are now looking forward to heading into production of their 2018 movies. While Avengers: Infinity War is undoubtedly the most highly anticipated movie for that year, there's another one that fans are all hyped about – the first standalone movie of the popular African American superhero, Black Panther.
And with around two months remaining before filming kicks off, the Ryan Coogler flick has added an Academy Award nominee to its cast roster. Angela Bassett has officially joined Black Panther. The celebrated actress will portray Ramonda, wife of John Kani's late T'Chaka and mother of Chadwick Boseman's T'Challa.
In the comics, Ramonda was actually T'Challa's stepmother. T'Chaka married her after his first wife, N'Yami, died giving birth to T'Challa. She was abducted by Anton Pretorius during a visit to her homeland, South Africa. Eventually, she was freed by T'Challa, who brought her back to Wakanda as the Queen Mother.
However, we don't know how Ramonda will be depicted in Black Panther, as details are being kept under wraps. But since her husband was killed during the events of Captain America: Civil War, it’s safe to assume that she’ll have a significant role in the February 16, 2018 release.
Angela Bassett is best known for her roles in biographical movies like Tina Turner in What's Love Got to Do with It, Betty Shabazz in both Malcolm X and Panther, and Voletta Wallace in Notorious. She is also known for appearing in multiple seasons of the FX series American Horror Story. Ramonda won't be her first comic book character, as she portrayed Amanda Waller in the 2011’s Green Lantern.
Along with Bassett and Boseman, the Black Panther cast roster includes Michael B. Jordan as Erik Killmonger, Forest Whitaker as Zuri, Lupita Nyong'o as Nakia, Danai Gurira as Okoye, Daniel Kaluuya as W'Kabi, Winston Duke as Man-Ape, and Florence Kasumba as Ayo.
