The Marvel Cinematic Universe is constantly releasing new content, both in theaters and streaming with a Disney+ subscription. Folks who have been watching the Marvel movies in order know that some properties stand out as fan favorites, chief among them being Ryan Coogler's Black Panther movies. The director offered two takeaways from the release of the sequel Wakanda Forever, and one of them truly surprised me. Let's break it all down.
Wakanda continues to be an important part of the MCU, and it'll seemingly be featured in the upcoming Marvel movie Avengers: Doomsday. And while fans are looking forward to Coogler's developing threequel, the Oscar-nominated director spoke to THR about the first sequel, offering:
I learned that I was more resilient than I give myself credit for — I’ll say that was the biggest thing. And that movie gets watched at home so much more than the other Panther did. I think about that: People may be watching when they want to feel something specific.
The resilience part makes a great deal of sense. After all, Chadwick Boseman's death put the original plans for Black Panther 2. The story had to be completely reworked, and the cast and crew filmed the project while in the throes of grief. But I was really surprised to hear the Wakanda Forever is more popular on streaming than the original movie. Mind blown.
The original Black Panther became an Oscar-nominated sensation upon its release in 2018, performing well with critics as well as at the box office. Chadwick Boseman's character quickly turned into a fan favorite, and he became a real-life hero to young Black fans in the audience. And while Wakanda Forever was also wildly successful, I didn't expect it to be the more popular of the two over on Disney+. But perhaps this is due to the characters being established, and audiences also having strong feelings about Boseman. After all, that title is a meditation on grief first, and a superhero movie second.
It should be fascinating to see what Ryan Coogler brings to a third movie, and how it might change the order of streaming popularity. Not much is known about what he's bringing to the table, although Denzel Washington revealed that a role is being written for him in Black Panther 3. But the timeline of its development and release remains unclear.
As previously mentioned, a number of Black Panther characters ill appear as part of the Avengers: Doomsday cast, including Letitia Wright's Shuri, Winston Duke's M'Baku, and Tenoch Huerta's Namor. It should be interesting to see how they factor into the multiversal story, and how it influences the threequel.
The Black Panther movies are streaming on Disney+, and Avengers: Doomsday will hit theaters on December 18th as part of the 2026 movie release list. Clearly Wakanda is here to stay. I guess you can say it'll be around Forever.
