Black Panther Just Got Even More Lit: Lupita Nyong’o & Danai Gurira are Headed to Wakanda

Lupita Nyong'o and Danai Gurira are joining Chadwick Boseman and Michael B. Jordan in Ryan Coogler's Black Panther film.

Alyssa Klein
July 24, 2016

Huge news out of Comic-Con this weekend. Alongside unveiling a new trailer for the forthcoming Doctor Strange movie (featuring Chiwetel Ejiofor as Baron Mordo), footage from the upcoming Spiderman reboot and Guardians of the Galaxy 2 and news that Room Oscar-winner Brie Larson is Captain Marvel, Marvel just dropped some bomb-ass updates on the Wakanda front.

Okay so remember back in May when Black Panther, Marvel’s first African superhero, made his cinematic debut in Captain America: Civil War? Chadwick Boseman, we knew at the time, had signed on to play the Wakandan leader in at least five Marvel films, including the first standalone Black Panther movie in 2018, to be directed by Creed and Fruitvale Station’s Ryan Coogler. Coogler’s Creed and Fruitvale Station star Michael B. Jordan signed on not long after. That’s when rumours started swirling that Marvel’s all-black film might also bring on Lupita Nyong’o. It wasn’t long before Black Twitter deemed #BlackPantherSoLit.

Well, Black Panther just got even more lit. Speaking during Marvel Studios' Hall H presentation at San Diego Comic-Con on Saturday, Coogler introduced the rest of the Black Panther cast. You can watch the full announcement in the video here:

Jordan will play the villainous Erik Killmonger, a classic comic book archetype and evil foil to Boseman’s T’Challa.

Nyong’o is indeed headed to Wakanda. She’ll play Nakia, the Dora Milaje warrior (a.k.a. Black Panther’s all-women bodyguard team) and sometimes potential love interest of T’Challa, who later becomes the villain Malice. No word on whether she’ll be totally good or a little bit bad in this first Black Panther film. "I'm looking forward to kicking some ass," the Oscar winner said during a Comic-Con panel.

"The story [of this Black Panther] is that the Black Panther's leadership is really threatened by two foes who come together, and so Black Panther gets the help of the C.I.A. and the Dora Milaje to try and defeat the enemy," Nyong'o reportedly shared with a Marvel correspondent.

What’s more, Black Panther will see Nyong’o reunite with Eclipsed writer and Walking Dead star Danai Gurira, who will play Okoye, head of the aforementioned Dora Milaje. (In Captain America: Civil War, you may recall, Florence Kasumba stole the show as a member of the Dora Milaje with that memorable “Move or you will be moved” line). It’s not clear if Kasumba will reprise her kick-ass role in the Black Panther franchise, but we do know she’ll star in the upcoming Wonder Woman film as Senator Acantha, an Amazon from the island of Themyscira, Wonder Woman’s birthplace.

Filming for the first Black Panther film starts in January 2017 with a release date scheduled for July 6, 2018. A new franchise logo was also revealed at Comic-Con.

Here's what the future of Marvel looks like courtesy of Boseman and Nyong'o:

Now that was a fly first Comic-Con!! #BlackPanther Special thank you, @GivenchyOfficial & @riccardotisci17 for the head to toe look! #sdcc2016

A photo posted by Lupita Nyong'o (@lupitanyongo) on

July 2018 can't come soon enough:

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