Disney takes Black Panther to TV
MPHO RANTAO
MARVEL’S Black Panther is coming to your TV.
Entertainment company Walt Disney Co. has announced that director Ryan Coogler is developing a TV series based on Marvel’s ‘Black Panther’, set in the technologically-advanced nation of Wakanda, to be shown on the company’s streaming site Disney+.
The series by Disney forms part of a five-year television deal that was struck between Disney and Coogler’s production company Proximity Media. Coogler said their work with Disney will go way beyond the Wakanda series.
“We’re already in the mic on some projects that we can’t wait to share,” he said.
“Ryan Coogler is a singular storyteller whose vision and range have made him one of the standout filmmakers of his generation,” said Disney Executive Chairman Bob Iger in a statement.
The director and co-writer of the 2017 blockbuster will be involved in the Wakanda series while producing and filming the anticipated ‘Black Panther’ sequel, which lost its lead star Chadwick Boseman, who died in August at the age of 43.
There are a plethora of characters to create storylines from the series, as the leading group of characters from the Black Panther movie within the Marvel universe include Princess Shuri, Dora Milaje leader Okoye, T’Challa’s rival leader M’Baku and special agent Nakia.
Each character is played by Letitia Wright, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke and Lupita Nyong’o respectively.
Bosewick’s sudden death started a debate among the Marvel fan base about who would replace the actor in the portrayal of King T’Challa in the upcoming sequel to ‘Black Panther’. Some alluded to T’Challa’s sister taking up the mantle in the sequel and any future Marvel movies that would feature ‘Black Panther’.
In December, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige announced that the character T’Challa would not be re-casted, but that the ‘Black Panther’ universe would continue, leaving Coogler and writers in the Marvel camp to determine the fate of the fictional king in both the ‘Black Panther’ sequel and the series.
