When Ryan Coogler was revealed to have signed a first-look development deal with the Disney empire and its many offshoots, the exciting news emerged that a Black Panther spinoff series focusing on Danai Gurira’s Okoye was on the filmmaker’s to-do list.
That was all the way back in February 2021, and with big screen sequel Wakanda Forever releasing next week, you’d imagine that the project would have gathered at least some forward momentum by now. Well, that hasn’t exactly been the case, and it even sounds as though the episodic adventure set in the fictional African nation could be further away than even the most pessimistic of fans would have hoped.
In an interview with Collider in promotion of Wakanda Forever, producer Nate Moore dropped the bad news bombshell that the Wakanda show is on the back burner, as Coogler focus his energies elsewhere for the time being.
“Because of the amount of time and attention that went into this film, and frankly the Ironheart show, that is probably not as far along as people want it to be, but there are certainly great ideas that we’re still talking to Ryan about. So, we’ll see how far we can get with it.”
Not only has Coogler been busy putting the final touches on Wakanda Forever, but he’s also been heavily involved as an executive producer on Ironheart, which sees Black Panther 2 debutant Dominique Thorne headline her own episodic effort as Riri Williams, and that’s without even mentioning the constant speculation touting the Fruitvale Station and Creed helmer as the number one front-runner to take the reigns on the Multiverse Saga’s closing chapter Avengers: Secret Wars.
We’ll no doubt be seeing Okoye’s solo story eventually, but it’s not going to be for a while.