Marvel fans had reason to rejoice yesterday as word leaked on some excited potential information. Rumor has it that Black Panther actor Michael B. Jordan would seemingly be returning for a sequel of the film. As reported in CBR, in an exclusive to Entertainment Tonight, Angela Bassett dropped the news following the cast’s victory at the 2019 Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture for Black Panther. Bassett and her husband, Courtney B. Vance, gave MCU fans plenty of reason to celebrate, but Erik Killmonger’s potential return led the headlines for obvious reasons.
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, Bassett said she assumed everyone would return for the filming of the sequel. As if that wasn’t enough, her husband then added “including Michael B.” Which prompted Bassett to reply that the audience never saw Killmonger “go into the ocean” at the end of the film. There are tons of ways to read this, but the most obvious is that Killmonger will either return healed or he’ll appear in flashbacks. Another possibility is that he shows up in the Djalia as an old king. Either way, it does appear that Killmonger will be back in some capacity.
While there’s no confirmation of this beyond Angela Bassett, director Ryan Cooglar will no doubt hear from fans about what they do and don’t want to see if Killmonger returns alive and well. There will be a small contingent of people that won’t be in favor of him being brought back to life or finding out that he never died. There’s no denying the impact that Killmonger’s character had on the film and bringing him back in a full capacity would really lessen the impact of his final line in the film for some people. It all depends on how his character, but there are people who will feel like that moment was cheapened if he returns healthy.
Hopefully people are able to balance Cooglar’s usage of Erik Killmonger in the sequel with his death in the first film. Count me in for Jordan’s return.
Black Panther 2 will be released some time in 2020 or 2021.