Feige’s plan was controversial among the inner circles of Marvel, says the leaker. Coogler, who wrote and directed the first installment in the franchise, argued against recasting. Marvel looked at Shuri taking over the Black Panther role along with M’Baku (Winston Duke) and Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o). They even looked at having two characters be Black Panther. The creatives also talked about doing a prequel at one point. The leaker says later in his comments that Marvel is also contemplating doing a Wakanda/Black Panther prequel series starring Sterling K. Brown and Atandwa Kani, who played N’Jobu and young T’Chaka in the first film.
Marvel wanted to delay Black Panther 2 and ultimately continue with T’Challa, but the studio didn’t want to lose Coogler. Ultimately, Marvel decided to let Coogler turn Shuri or M’Baku into the next Black Panther. Coogler reportedly wanted M’Baku at one point, but he had been pushed for a brand new character from the beginning. Feige agreed, and Coogler has been retooling the script since November for the new character who will become the next Black Panther in the sequel:
The Black Panther mantle will be dawned by an original character created by Coogler. He will be the lead of the film and will be King and Black Panther moving forward. He was described to me as a strong, quiet, powerful but also broken young man with a very unique back story. I was told he was a member of the Miner or River tribe. Apparently a relative of Nakia. Marvel isn’t letting out there plans for this until the last second.
Neither Shuri nor M’Baku will become Black Panther at any point during the film, but they will be the primary supporting characters. Apparently, Okoye (Danai Gurira) and Nakia will have smaller roles as a result. Martin Freeman will return as Agent Ross.
Having a totally new Black Panther is not the only surprise in this leak. The same person said that T’Challa would not die, as we’ve all been expecting. Instead, he’ll be written out of the film, although it’s unclear how that’s supposed to happen. Other Avengers have retired, so it wouldn’t be totally unexpected.
Namor will be the main villain of Black Panther 2, the leaker said, and will be played by Tenoch Huerta. Doctor Doom will be the secondary “smaller” villain. The actor is still negotiating the role, with the leaker saying that fans will love him. Black Panther 2 will essentially be a three-way war between Wakanda, Latveria, and Lemuria. The latter is a stand-in for Atlantis, and it serves as the Deviants’ underwater city in Marvel comics.