Something that was widely praised about Black Panther – as well as everything else about it – was the strength of its female characters. Though Chadwick Boseman was in the lead, he was ably supported by many talented actresses playing highly-capable women. For instance, Lupita N’yongo was his spy love interest Nakia, Danai Gurira was fierce general Okoye and, probably most people’s favorite, Letitia Wright was King T’Challa’s genius sister Shuri.
When the inevitable sequel arrives, then, let’s hope that these characters will get even more to do than in the first movie. Or, better yet, why don’t Marvel give the women of Black Panther their own spinoff film? That was the idea pitched to director Ryan Coogler when he caught up with Variety’s Ramin Setoodeh at the Cannes Film Festival. It seems he was excited by the notion, too, as he was quoted as saying: “That would be amazing if the opportunity came up.”
As things stand in the MCU, an all-female sequel might actually have to be the shape that Black Panther 2 takes, given that T’Challa dies in the final scene in Avengers: Infinity War when Thanos wipes out half the universe. This has led fans to theorize that we might see Shuri, at least temporarily, take over the throne of Wakanda from her brother in Avengers 4. Which would also likely mean that she’d become the next Black Panther, too.
There’s certainly a precedent in the comic books for this, so we wouldn’t be surprised if Marvel listened to the fans in the near future, even if we don’t see Shuri suited up for the next Avengers movie. At the very least, Kevin Feige has promised that we’ll see much more of the character in the MCU over the coming few years. So maybe that all-female Black Panther spinoff could actually happen? Especially if Coogler’s on board with the project.