Black Panther Crosses $1 Billion: What Storylines Should (And Shouldn’t) Be in Black Panther 2?
Black Panther continues to be a force at the box-office winning its 4th straight weekend. Can it go for a 5th? Either way, the billion dollar film (man that feels good to write) has already been confirmed for a sequel (as if there was any doubt). Kevin Feige has said that not only does he want Coogler back for a sequel but that Wakanda, Shuri and Black Panther will play a big role in the MCU going forward. So what storylines should Marvel be looking at going forward? I have some thoughts on what they should and shouldn't be on the table. First, what shouldn't.
- No, Nakia shouldn't become Malice. I don't know why people are suggesting such a terrible thing. Coogler's Black Panther fixed the problematic origins of Okoye & Nakia (and the Dora Milaje as a whole). Why on earth would they go back and undo all that by sending Nakia on the same troubling path that her comic counterpart did? Malice wasn't even a good character so I just don't understand this desire at all
- No to Storm being in Black Panther 2. I've covered this extensively already but I just don't think the X-Men or mutants will be in the MCU any time soon, even after the deal. And that's before we get into the whole Storm deserves better thing
So what directions can they go?
- With the Skrulls being introduced in Captain Marvel, I think we're on track for a universe-wide Secret Invasion style storyline. This works out great for Black Panther as Jason Aaron wrote a fantastic Secret Invasion tie-in for Black Panther
- Regardless if they go with something related to Secret Invasion or not, whatever they pick, the focus in Black Panther 2 should stay political. Almost all of the storylines in Black Panther solo books revolve around politics and I think that fits in the movies as well. They can pull from Priest or Coates in terms of having some outside force using anger from folks in Wakanda to try to usurp the throne. Of course that outside force could be the Skrulls...
- I would also love to see some form of The Ultimates. With T'Challa having Nakia and Shuri doing outreach, it fits right in with what Al Ewing did with The Ultimates. Even better, if you change the team around a bit, you could have the all-female "Avengers" team that Tessa Thompson talked about. Replace T'Challa with Shuri (And Nakia) and Blue Marvel with Valkyrie and you now have a team of: Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers), Shuri, Nakia, Valkyrie, Spectrum (Monica Rambeau) and America Chavez. Not too bad.
No matter what direction they go, we know Black Panther 2 will be even bigger than the first film. And the first film is now a Billion Dollar franchise.