Okoye becomes the new Black Panther in cool Black Panther 2 fan art. Marvel’s Black Panther was a massive blockbuster, grossing $1.3 billion worldwide in 2018. Now Marvel is set to return to the world of Wakanda, but without star Chadwick Boseman, who tragically passed away in 2020.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever as the film is officially titled will of course pay tribute to Boseman, who portrayed King T’Challa aka Black Panther in the original film. The movie will also presumably see a new character taking on the mantle of Black Panther and donning the iconic costume Bozeman wore so well in the first film. T’Challa’s sister Shuri (Letitia Wright) seems to be the betting favorite to land this coveted honor, with Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) and Okoye (Danai Gurira) close behind. There’s also a strong contingent of fans who believe the film will pull off a big twist and bring back Michael B. Jordan’s Killmonger to follow in T’Challa’s footsteps.
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The question of who will become Black Panther is just one of many reasons why Marvel fans are hyped for Wakanda Forever. For their part, Reddit user Solid2397 thinks Okoye would be a good candidate to carry forward the legacy of T’Challa. See their fan art imagining Gurira’s Okoye as Black Panther in the space below:
shuri being the new bp would be dope, but I drew Okoye as BP awhile back. Also wanted to see what ppl hype were about from d23, mine is the Leader coming back and Secret Invasion from marvelstudios
Those who favor the idea of Shuri becoming the new Black Panther will of course point out that Wakanda Forever’s trailer strongly hints that Wright’s character is indeed the one who gets the honor in the new movie. Shuri after all is T’Challa’s sister, and the trailer strongly indicates that family is a big theme running through the new movie. It’s also true that Shuri became Black Panther in the pages of Marvel Comics at one point when T’Challa was injured.
Fans who argue for Okoye becoming Black Panther will of course point out that Shuri is a great scientist but not necessarily a great warrior. Okoye on the other hand is an accomplished fighter, which some would argue makes her more qualified to take on the Black Panther mantle. The argument for Gurira’s character as Black Panther is made somewhat weaker however by the fact that Okoye is rumored to be getting her own spinoff show. Clearly, if Marvel Studios was planning on making Okoye Black Panther, there would be no talk of the character getting a separate spinoff.
The above fan art may make a strong case for Okoye as Black Panther even in the face of real-world considerations like the character’s rumored spinoff series. But of course, many fans will still advocate for Shuri, or Nakia or even M'Baku – or even the wild card candidate Killmonger. All questions will be answered when Black Panther 2 finally hits movie screens.