Oscar Winner Lupita Nyong'o In Talks To Join Marvel's BLACK PANTHER

Marvel Studios introduced Black Panther in Captain America: Civil War, and audiences seemed to really enjoy Chadwick Boseman's performance and the overall badassery of the character. I was already interested in the Black Panther solo movie, but seeing the character in action in Civil War kicked that excitement to the next level — especially considering what happens in the mid-credits scene and the first look we received at T'Challa's futuristic jungle kingdom in Wakanda.

Creed director Ryan Coogler is co-writing and directing the film, and now it's brought on another excellent addition. THR reports that Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong'o is in talks to join the cast of the movie. There's no official word about which character she'd play, but she is said to be the Panther's love interest.

In the comics, Panther has been romantically linked to Ororo Munroe, aka Storm from the X-Men, and that seems like it definitely won't happen in this movie considering that character is currently licensed out to 20th Century Fox. The far more likely option for Nyong'o here is the character of Monica Lynne, a Georgia-born jazz singer with whom Panther falls in love and eventually gets engaged. As far as I can tell, she's just a normal human woman and doesn't ever gain or posses superpowers of her own.

Nyong'o is a great addition to this movie, and this continues a streak of roles at in Disney movies for her: Star Wars: The Force Awakens, The Jungle Book, Queen of Katwe, and now this.

Black Panther arrives in theaters on February 2, 2018.