A familiar face will return in Marvel’s upcoming film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Danai Gurira, who plays the role of the general of the Dora Milaje named Okoye, has been brought on board to reprise her role. Additionally, she will also be seen in a Black Panther spin-off series for Disney Plus, which will work as an origin story for her character.

A Wakanda spin-off series for Disney Plus was first confirmed back in February, with Coogler’s production company, Proximity Media, signing a five-year deal with Walt Disney Company to work on various projects. News of Gurira’s return for Wakanda Forever and an origin series for Okoye, which was first reported by The Hollywood Reporter, does not surprise fans of the popular franchise since Florence Kasumba just recently reprised her role from Black Panther as the Dora Milaje member Ayo in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

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At this time, it is unclear if the Okoye origin story is separate from the previously mentioned Wakanda spin-off or if Gurira is headlining the latter. Gurira’s Okoye first appeared in 2018’s Black Panther, which went onto become a great success and also a cultural phenomenon as the first standalone MCU film with a Black superhero in the lead. The cast, which mostly consisted of Black actors, received a lot of praise from fans. The film also won several awards and was the first MCU film to achieve an Academy Award win.

Namor Black Panther

The sequel film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will continue to explore the world created by Stan Lee, albeit without the presence of lead actor Chadwick Boseman. After a four-year-long battle with cancer, the actor died in August 2020 and Marvel boss Kevin Feige has confirmed that his role as King T'Challa will not be recast. Details about the plot are being kept a secret, but the actors have talked about how Black Panther 2 will honor Boseman’s legacy. Most of the characters introduced in the first film, including Gurira’s Okoye, are expected to return, along with the new addition of an antagonist played by Tenoch Huerta. The film will once again be directed by Coogler and is expected to release in July 2022.

As far as the spin-off series is concerned, Coogler’s unnamed Wakanda show will join a list of live-action Disney Plus shows set in the MCU. Two Marvel series have already premiered on the streaming service, those being WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Both shows have received mostly positive reviews from both critics and audiences and have been extremely successful.

The next in line is Loki, all set to premiere in less than two weeks. Several other Marvel shows have been lined up to premiere on Disney Plus later this year or next, including Ms. Marvel, Hawkeye, Moon Knight, and She-Hulk.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is scheduled to hit theaters on July 8, 2022.

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Source: The Hollywood Reporter