After the original movie had ended up being a groundbreaking success for Marvel Studios, there was very little doubt that a Black Panther 2 would happen and Ryan Coogler would return at the helm. And now, those are set in stone.
Multiple Hollywood trades, including Variety, are reporting that Coogler has sealed a deal with Marvel to write and direct the second solo outing for Chadwick Boseman's Wakandan superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After co-writing the script with Joe Robert Cole, Coogler went on to call the shots for the original movie which arrived in theaters earlier this year.
It topped the North American box office for five consecutive weekends and ended its theatrical run with a worldwide gross of over $1.3 billion. Critics also loved it, evident from its 97 percent approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes. No other MCU installment boasts such a high rating. So, we were pretty sure that Marvel would desperately try to bring back the director for the sequel.
The studio hasn't set a release date for Black Panther 2 yet. But according to the new reports, Coogler is expected to start working on the script sometime next year. The studio is currently eyeing a late-2019 or early-2020 start for production. So, it would be wise not to expect the sequel's arrival sooner than the second half of 2020, or maybe not before 2021.
Apparently, the director originally wanted to shoot a small-scale production, like a fresh take on 12 Angry Men, before putting his mind to Black Panther 2. But now that he has signed on, it remains to be whether the sequel becomes his primary focus or if he still tries to squeeze a smaller movie in.
