Yesterday, actor Morris Chestnut — best known for his roles in Boyz in the Hood, the V reboot and American Horror Story — tweeted and Facebooked a picture of a Black Panther comic with the words, "It’s time to get familiar with the Black Panther character!" Is Marvel finally making a Black Panther movie? Have they already found their T'Challa? There's evidence on both sides.


The case for:

• Chestnut's next role will be as Sgt. Marcus Williams in Kick-Ass 2, which not only is being supervised by Mark Millar — who has some sway with Marvel — but also gives him some superhero movie clout.


• "It's time to get familiar" makes it sound like he's doing research for a specific job, not developing a sudden interest in the Marvel hero.

• Chestnut deleted the tweet and FB post very quickly after posting them, as if he realized he shouldn't be talking about this sort of thing, or, more likely, someone told very sternly him he shouldn't be talking about this sort of thing.

The case against:

• Marvel's had almost no word about a Black Panther movie since head honcho Kevin Feige said he thought Wakanda would be extremely difficult to portray on-screen (as opposed to, somehow, the mythical plane of Asgard and the alien landscapes of Guardians of the Galaxy).


• Just because he's doing research does not mean he has the job — he might only be in consideration.

• It's also possible that Black Panther may only be a small role in Avengers 2 or something, as opposed to a full movie.


• In a just world, the Black Panther role would go to Isaiah Mustafa (unless they're saving him for Luke Cage, which would be acceptable).

If I were a betting man, I'd say the role — and possibly the movie's entire existence — is still up in the air.