Marvel’s ‘Black Panther’ Sequel Depends On Ryan Coogler’s Return

The world may be waiting for the release of Avengers: Infinity War, but many are still talking about the worldwide phenomenon known as Black Panther. Marvel Studios’ latest film has broken all kinds of box office records and has grossed over $1.3 billion nearly nine and a half weeks after its release. So, of course, they would greenlight a sequel.

However, Marvel knows that you just don’t dive in head first without a story or someone to direct it. And that’s why the studio isn’t ready to pull the trigger on starting production. While Ryan Coogler is working on other projects, he isn’t officially signed on to direct Black Panther 2, and Marvel doesn’t seem like they are interested in doing one without him. More on the story below.

Marvel Studios’ president Kevin Feige spoke to Collider during the Avengers: Infinity War press day where he addressed the situation. While it is unclear where the two parties are at in negotiations, it’s pretty clear that the two are talking to each other. It’s just a matter of time before they can agree on something.

Here’s what he had to say:

â€œWe definitely want Ryan to come back and thatâ€™s actively being worked out right now. When will it be? A lot of it will be when Ryan wants to and not rushing anything, but I think we have an idea of when it will be. But, again, [weâ€™re] not going to announce any post-Avengers 4 movies until hopefully after Avengers 4, which is another reason weâ€™re not going to Comic-Con.â€

You can read more about Marvel not attending Comic-Con right here if interested.

For the most part, Coogler has spoken highly of his relationship with Marvel Studios. In fact, we got to see a lot of Coogler’s voice in the film, with some shades of Marvel woven into the film’s tapestry. There were no Infinity Stones to worry about. We saw something that addressed themes of culture, identity, politics, and family. As a result, the film was a huge success. So it is easy to see why Marvel may be determined to get Coogler back for a second go-around.

You can catch the rest of the interview over at Collider, where Feige talks about Plan B if Black Panther wasn’t a huge success. And how the film’s success changed some of their plans for the future.

Avengers: Infinity War opens in theaters on April 27, 2018.