Daniel Kaluuya won't be returning to the MCU for Black Panther 2. In the first film, the actor played W'Kabi, who is married to Danai Gurira's Okoye and is close with T'Challa's (Chadwick Boseman), though he sides with Michael B. Jordan's Killmonger against his friend.
Rotten Tomatoes' Jacqueline Coley broke the news on Twitter, revealing that Kaluuya has not returned for the Marvel sequel due to scheduling conflicts with Jordan Peele's upcoming film Nope. Kaluuya will star in the sci-fi horror film alongside Keke Palmer and Steven Yeun.
In the Black Panther sequel, Gurira is returning as Okoye, and Letitia Wright's Shuri, Lupita Nyong'o's Nakia, Winston Duke's M'Baku, Angela Bassett's Ramonda, and Martin Freeman's Everett Ross are also back. Newcomers include Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams, AKA Ironheart, and Tenoch Huerta in a mystery role – speculation has focused on Atlantean prince Namor, but Huerta has poked fun at people who think pictures of him as the character have leaked.
The plot of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is pretty much entirely a mystery, but Freeman has teased that we should expect the unexpected. "Some of it was really – some of it's very odd, and I think [director Ryan Coogler] could see by the reaction on my face some of the things he was saying… He kept sort of stopping, and going... He kept on saying, 'Stay with me, but this is going to work.'"
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever arrives this November 11. Before then, She-Hulk will land on Disney Plus beginning this August 17. In the meantime, check out our ultimate guide to Marvel Phase 4 for everything else the MCU has in store for us.
