The blockbuster success of Marvel’s “Black Panther” figures to up the already in-demand status of director Ryan Coogler and his stars, many of whom continue their roles in “Avengers: Infinity War,” in theaters May 4. Here, we take a look at some of their upcoming projects:

Coogler, whose trajectory, from 2013’s Independent Spirit Award-winning “Fruitvale Station” to the masterful “Rocky” reboot “Creed” in 2015 and now “Black Panther” could hardly be steeper, next reteams (for a fourth time!) with Michael B. Jordan (why fix what isn’t broken?) for the Ta-Nehisi Coates-written drama “Wrong Answer.” Based on a nonfiction New Yorker article, it tells the story of the scandal surrounding an Atlanta teacher who alters his students’ test scores to save his struggling school.

In addition to “Wrong Answer,” Jordan, who plays Erik Killmonger in “Panther,” stars as Guy Montag in Ramin Bahrani’s HBO adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451,” and appears in Netflix’s superhero family drama “Raising Dion,” based on the comic book by Dennis Liu and Jason Piperberg. Jordan will also reportedly play civil rights defense attorney Bryan Stevenson in “Just Mercy,” and reprise his role as Adonis in “Creed II,” with Steven Caple Jr. (2016 indie “The Land”) directing.

“Black Panther’s” leading man, Chadwick Boseman, who rose to fame playing real-life icons Jackie Robinson (“42”), James Brown (“Get on Up”) and Thurgood Marshall (“Marshall”), will presumably have a long reign as King T’Challa of Wakanda, but he will be no less busy with other films. “Moonlight” director Barry Jenkins recently signed on to direct “Expatriate,” a 1970s-set hijacking thriller, which Boseman co-wrote and will star in. Another film reported to be in development is a drama co-written by Boseman about the Rev. Jeffrey Brown, a Baptist minister devoted to lowering youth crime and gang violence in Boston.


Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong’o (“12 Years a Slave”), who plays “Black Panther’s” Nakia, is slated to star with Josh Gad in the zombie comedy “Little Monsters” and play Trevor Noah’s mother in the adaptation of “The Daily Show” host’s memoir “Born a Crime.” Nyong’o will also produce and star opposite David Oyelowo in a miniseries based on Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel “Americanah,” adapted by “Black Panther co-star Danai Gurira, about the parallel lives of two Nigerian immigrants.

Nyong’o starred on Broadway in Gurira’s Tony-nominated play “Eclipsed.” There are also rumors Nyong’o will appear in a “Charlie’s Angels” reboot. Gurira, Okoye in “Black Panther,” also continues her role in TV’s “The Walking Dead.”

“Panther’s” W’Kabi, Daniel Kaluuya, broke out big time a year ago in “Get Out,” earning an Oscar nomination, and next stars in Steve McQueen’s Chicago-set heist thriller “Widows,” with Viola Davis and Liam Neeson, and lends his voice to the animated BBC/Netflix adaptation of “Watership Down.”

Letitia Wright, who has a key role in “Black Panther” as Shuri, T’Challa’s sister and Wakanda’s tech guru, has another cyber-savvy role in Steven Spielberg’s upcoming virtual reality film “Ready Player One.”


Forest Whitaker, another Academy Award winner (“The Last King of Scotland”), appears as Zuri in “Black Panther” and was a producer on “Fruitvale Station.” He has a number of films in the pipeline including “Finding Steve McQueen,” “How It Ends,” “A Fall From Grace,” “LAbyrinth” with Johnny Depp and “The Poison Rose” with John Travolta.

As for a “Black Panther” sequel, nothing has been officially announced, but how can they not do one?

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