Marvel Studios has reportedly made a decision about how to handle the production of Black Panther 2 in the wake of Chadwick Boseman's passing. According to anonymous leaks (so take several grains of salt with this), the plan is for T'Challa to die off-screen, leading to his sister Shuri (Letitia Wright) adopting the mantle of the Black Panther.
Boseman kept his private life a carefully guarded secret, which included his diagnosis of stage III colon cancer in 2016. Almost no one outside a small circle of family and close friends knew he was sick at all. When he passed away on August 28th, it shocked the world, as well as his former co-stars. Since then, both fans and critics have wondered if, without Boseman as T'Challa, there would even be a Black Panther 2.
As per the leaks, Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige has been discussing the topic with Black Panther 2 director Ryan Coogler and BP2's returning cast, eventually arriving at the idea to recenter the film around Shuri. No other details about the film, such as its antagonist or additional plot, have been disclosed, although it's safe to assume that all previous plans have gone right out the window.
Shuri, princess of Wakanda, first appeared in 2005's Black Panther Vol. 4 #2, created by writer Reginald Hudlin and artist John Romita Jr. Initially designed as a more warlike counterpart to her coldly analytic older brother, Shuri went on to rule Wakanda for some time while T'Challa was in a coma. Shuri later died in the run-up to the 2015 Secret Wars crossover, in a battle against Thanos's underling Proxima Midnight.
Shuri was subsequently resurrected by a combination of Wakandan magic and super-science, because comics. Her time spent dead gave her a dramatically different outlook, as well as new powers. This second iteration of Shuri heavily influenced Wright's depiction of the character in 2018's Black Panther, and in turn, Wright's Shuri has had an impact on the comics. In the wake of the Black Panther film taking over the known universe, Shuri got her own 10-issue solo comic, written by Hugo- and Nebula-winning science fiction author Nnedi Okorafor. Shuri ran from December of 2018 to July of 2019.
Black Panther 2 is reportedly scheduled to begin filming in March 2021, with a planned release date in May of 2022. It is still planned as the first film in "Phase 5" of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, alongside Captain Marvel 2, Ant-Man 3, Blade, and Fantastic Four.
Source: We Got This Covered