Daniel Kaluuya, who played the title role in Black Panther, will not be returning for the planned sequel, titled Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Jacqueline Coley, the editor in charge of the awards program at Rotten Tomatoes, recently got down with Daniel Kaluuya, who announced that he would not be reprising his part as W’Kabi in the upcoming film Wakanda Forever due to scheduling difficulties with Jordan Peele’s Nope. Although several of Coley’s followers inquired as to whether or not the phrase “schedule issues” would be a code for any other underlying reason, the journalist repeated that both films were shot at the same time. June of 2021 saw the beginning of production for both Wakanda Forever and Nope.

After a costume designer’s CV appeared to confirm this casting information, rumors began to circulate earlier this year that Kaluuya will reprise his role as Killmonger in the upcoming Black Panther sequel. Kaluuya plays the role of W’Kabi in the film Black Panther, which was released in 2018, and he was a close confidante of T’Challa/Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) as well as the spouse of Okoye (Danai Gurira). Despite this, W’Kaba ultimately betrayed both his monarch and his wife in order to join up with the nefarious Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan).

BREAKING NEWS: Fresh from my NOPE interview with Daniel Kaluuya he did not reprise his role in #BlackPanther2 due to his schedule conflicts w/ #NOPE!

It's official he's not in #BlackPantherWakandaForever

— Jacqueline is not answering emails (@THATJacqueline) July 13, 2022

Wakanda Forever is now scheduled to make its debut in theaters on the 11th of November, which is at the end of this year. A portion of the movie will be dedicated to paying tribute to Boseman, who went unexpectedly suddenly in August of 2020. Characters like Shuri (played by Letitia Wright) and Okoye are confirmed to be involved in the Black Panther sequel, along with a number of other famous faces from the original film. However, the plot details for the Black Panther sequel have been kept under wraps by Marvel Studios. There have been rumblings that Namor, the Sub-Mariner, may make his debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe at some point.

After appearing in the 2017 horror thriller Get Out, which was directed by Jordan Peele, Kaluuya is now set to play a leading role in the upcoming film Nope. The story of Nope revolves around two brothers and a sister who own a ranch. Their father is slain when he is crushed to death by an unknown item that falls from the sky. As a result, OJ (played by Kaluuya) and Emerald Haywood (played by Keke Palmer) decide to recruit the assistance of a tech salesman in order to record video evidence of a UFO. The film also features performances from Steven Yeun, Michael Wincott, and Brandon Perea in addition to Kaluuya and Palmer. On Friday, July 22, the film Nope is scheduled to be released in theaters.