BLACK PANTHER Director Ryan Coogler Talks About His Hopes for the Future of the Franchise

Director Ryan Coogler has made two beautiful Black Panther movies for the MCU, and after guiding the fans through the real-life and onscreen death of our Black Panther, Chadwick Boseman, some may wonder where the future of the franchise is headed. Coogler said a couple of months ago that he had given his sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever “everything he had,” and he wasn’t sure what was next, but now he is talking about his hopes for the franchise.

In a recent interview with The New York Times, Coogler was asked about his level of want to tell more stories in Wakanda, and he explained:

“I feel blessed that I have the opportunity to work on these movies, bro. When I got asked to do the first one, it was like a moving train. I thank God every day that I was able to jump on it and meet these people, these actors, and to meet Chadwick during some of the last years of his life. I’ll do it as long as folks will have me. But I think it’s bigger than just me or Joe. Between the first and second movie, we made $2 billion at the box office, which is what matters the most to corporations. So I hope that it continues, man. I hope people are still making movies about Wakanda long after we’re gone.”

It sounds like he’s open to the possibilities of the characters he’s created moving forward within the MCU under another creator’s watch, but he also doesn’t seem completely closed off to continuing the story himself. It just hasn’t been decided yet where this franchise will go. I hope he returns to take Shuri’s Black Panther on a new adventure alongside her brother T’Challa’s son, Toussaint. What would you like to see for the future of Black Panther?