Lupita Nyong’o, who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the critically acclaimed 12 Years a Slave, is in talks to join the cast of Marvel’s Black Panther, with The Hollywood Reporter reporting that although there is no word yet on who Lupita will play, whoever it is will have some sort of romantic connection with the titular Black Panther, who will once again be played by Chadwick Boseman, who made his debut as the character in the current number 1 movie in the world Captain America: Civil War.
As anyone who has seen Captain America: Civil War will know, Chadwick Boseman’s character T’Challa takes on the mantle of Black Panther, which is passed down through generations to the most worthy warrior, and ascends to the throne as King of the fictional African country Wakanda after his fathers untimely demise.
Lupita is not unfamiliar with roles in blockbuster franchises, having provided a supporting role in last Decembers mammoth hit Star Wars: The Force Awakens as Maz Kanata, a role she will reprise in next years as yet untitled sequel which is currently filming in London, and providing the voice of Raksha, the wolf who raises Mowgli as her own cub, in Jon Favreau’s recent live action adaptation of The Jungle Book.
Fans of Lupita were also recently treated with the trailer for another film she stars in, The Queen of Katwe, to be released this coming September.
Creed director Ryan Coogler will helm the first Black Panther film, which will not see release until February 2018, and is expected to start shooting early next year.
For now, though, Black Panther fans will just have to settle for multiple re-watches of Captain America: Civil War if they need their fix of T’Challa. The film is still dominating in the Box office world wide
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