Palisadian Kevin Feige Produces ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’

By LILY TINOCO | Reporter

The Marvel Cinematic Universe will celebrate its 30th film with the debut of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” produced by Palisadian and President of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige.

“Wakanda Forever” is the sequel to Marvel’s 2018 “Black Panther,” which follows the story of T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), who returns home to the African nation of Wakanda after the death of his father to take his place as king. He is attacked by a powerful enemy who suddenly reappears, which puts the fate of Wakanda and the entire world at risk.

Ideas for a sequel to the original film began shortly after its release, but plans for the film changed in August 2020 when it was announced that Boseman died of colon cancer. Marvel made the decision not to re-cast his role.

“It just felt like it was much too soon to recast,” Feige said in an interview with Empire magazine. “Stan Lee always said that Marvel represents the world outside your window. And we had talked about how, as extraordinary and fantastical as our characters and stories are, there’s a relatable and human element to everything we do. The world is still processing the loss of Chad. And Ryan poured that into the story.”

Marvel’s VP of Development Nate Moore further confirmed that the studio does not have plans to recast Boseman’s character in any future projects, and T’Challa will not appear in the MCU 616 universe.

“The challenge for ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ is telling a story without T’Challa,” Moore said in the Ringer-Verse podcast. “[What] we all feel … of T’Challa in the MCU on the screen, not the comics, is tied to Chadwick’s performance, is what he brought to that role.”

A synopsis from Marvel confirmed “Wakanda Forever” will deal with the fallout of King T’Challa’s death, and will see Queen Ramonda, Shuri, M’Baku, Okoye and the Dora Milaje “fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers” in the wake of his death.

“As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with the help of War Dog Nakia and Everett Ross and forge a new path for the kingdom of Wakanda,” according to the synopsis.

The film stars Angela Bassett, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Danai Gurira, Lupita Nyong’o and more.

“Wakanda Forever”—rated PG-13 with a runtime of two hours and 41 minutes—will hit theaters on Friday, November 11.