'Black Panther 2' Scheduled For May 6, 2022 Release [D23]

Yesterday, Marvel dazzled audiences with their D23 appearance and revealed three new limited series for Disney+Ms. Marvel,” “She-Hulk,” and “Moon Knight.” All three are new characters never before seen on the big screen, and this was quite exciting for Marvel fans. Today, however, Marvel film’s presentation was much more muted. Fans expecting a barrage of news were left somewhat disappointed. All that was revealed was Kit Harington’s role in “Eternals (he’s playing the swordsman Black Knight), some details on that cast (Gemma Chan is playing the lead character Sersei) and some footage from “Black Widow” starring Scarlett Johansson, some of which already seen at Comic-Con earlier this year. But there was one small announcement still to come, and that was news of the much-anticipated “Black Panther” sequel.

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Marvel chief President and writer/director Ryan Coogler revealed the film is coming on May 6, 2022. That’s Marvel’s key summer date, reserved for its big tentpoles and it demonstrates how “Black Panther,” a billion-dollar franchise already, is hugely important to the company.

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No other details were revealed, unfortunately, including its official title, or the rumor and hope that the undersea Atlantean character Namor, would be revealed as the villain. But much of the cast is expected to return including Martin Freeman as the CIA agent Everett K. Ross (incidentally, the actor believes his character survived Thanos’ snap).

“The Black Panther 2” news has somewhat of a domino effect too. The May 6, 2020 date was assumed to be the one reserved for “Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 3.” Once the first ‘Guardians’ became a massive hit in August, the series graduated to the May slot for its sequel, and as one of Marvel’s most popular franchises, it was assumed the film would retake the opening summer slot.

“Black Panther” assuming the spot means one of two things. Either the film is being saved for another 2020 date— Marvel has still not revealed what movies are arriving on Feb. 18, 2022, or July 29, 2022—or the film won’t be ready for that year. Now February 2022, seems out of the question, that’s likely being saved for either a new franchise or a third “Deadpool” movie if it’s done on time. Summer could happen, but James Gunn is shooting a “Suicide Squad” film for DC that’s scheduled to come out in 2021, so having a movie ready for the following year might be tough and could’ve caused that domino effect. Time will reveal all things.

All we know is that “Black Panther 2” is on track, although summer 2020, will be four years since the original film. But hell, storytelling first and not rushing a sequel…. gotta admire it in this day and age.