Updated 24 July: After a long wait, we’re now mere months away from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever landing in cinemas – and if the first trailer is anything to go by, it’s going to be a real treat.

During a cast appearance at San Diego Comic Con this weekend, Marvel Studios unveiled the first look to a room full of fans, who roared in excitement as the trailer began. And as expected, there was a lot to unpick in the two-minute clip.

First of all, the trailer confirms that T’Challa’s death will be part of the film’s storyline following Chadwick Boseman’s passing in August 2020, with a mural of the character appearing on screen at one point.  

The trailer also introduces us to some of the new actors joining the series. These include Michaela Coel – who is playing Aneka, a combat instructor for the Dora Milaje – and Dominique Thorne, who joins the film as Ironheart ahead of the character’s upcoming Disney Plus series.

Finally, and perhaps most excitingly, the trailer ends with a shot of a new Black Panther, who it seems has taken over the role from the late T’Challa. However, we don’t know who is in it – and chances are we’ll have to wait until the film hits cinemas to find out this key detail.

You can watch the full trailer for yourself below:  

As reporte 15 July: We’re currently on a monthly countdown till the anticipated Marvel sequel comes to our screens and just when we thought the cast was confirmed, the release date was imminent and we were relatively in the clear of any major changes, some (rather disappointing) casting news has landed. 

Daniel Kaluuya, who played W’Kabi, the best friend and confidant to T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) and head of security for the Border Tribe, will not be returning for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. According to Variety, Kaluuya was asked to return but had already committed to star in Jordan Peele’s upcoming horror film Nope.

The film, which he stars in alongside Keke Palmer, is already drumming up a lot of fanfare, not least because Peele is known for his mind-bending take on the horror genre. So we guess we’ll just have to resign ourselves to the fact that Kaluuya may not be in the Marvel franchise right now, but he will be coming to the big screen anyway soon.

Elsewhere, rumours continue to whir around Letitia Wright’s character development. Currently, it’s rumoured that she’ll be taking on more of a leading role as T’Challa’s sister Shuri – the star has revealed that the film is “jam packed with exciting stuff”.

Talking to Variety at the Cannes Film Festival, Wright revealed that the film “is an incredible honour for Chadwick Boseman“.

She said: “We honoured him by committing ourselves to the story that he started, the legacy that he started with this franchise.

“And we just committed every day to working hard, no matter what circumstances we faced – and we faced a lot of circumstances, a lot of difficult situations – but we came together as a team, and we poured everything into this movie, so I’m excited for you to see it.”

As reported 22 February: We’ve been treated to some further exciting updates from the set of the Marvel sequel. 

Lupita Nyong’o (who stars as Nakia in the films) has shared some behind-the-scenes photos from filming the anticipated movie and by doing so, has also confirmed the return of  M’Kathu (played by Danny Sapani). 

Until now, his character has not been confirmed to return by Marvel previously, but is the leader of Wakanda’s Border Tribe, where M’Baku (Winston Duke) also comes from. 

The news comes after it was previously teased that M’Baku would have more of a role to play in the film’s sequel, as reported by Digital Spy.

We can’t get enough of Marvel and so, with news that filming for the Black Panther sequel has almost wrapped up, it’s safe to say that we’re on the edge of our seats with anticipation.

Letitia Wright, who plays Shuri, suffered a major on-set injury last August while filming a sequence involving a stunt rig on location in Boston. Production for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever then unfortunately shut down in late November 2021 after the team filmed as much as they could without Wright, as she continued to heal at her home in London.

While her injuries were initially thought to be minor, Marvel’s bosses later said she turned out to have sustained “a critical shoulder fracture and a concussion with severe side effects”.

In other cast-related news, when we heard that Dominque Thorne was set to play the role of Riri Williams in Ironheart, our excitement levels went through the roof.

But in an interview with Comicbook, Disney+ Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige revealed that she’ll in fact make her Marvel debut as Riri in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, before Ironheart even airs.

“We’re shooting Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, right now, and the character of Riri Williams, you will meet in Black Panther 2 first,” Feige told Comicbook.

Now that’s a twist we didn’t see coming.

Even better, this announcement comes after it was announced that Michaela Coel’s I May Destroy You has joined the cast too.

This means that Thorne and Coel’s latest roles will see them star alongside the likes of Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright, Daniel Kaluuya, Winston Duke, Lupita Nyong’o, Florence Kasumba and Angela Bassett, who are all expected to reprise their roles from the original Black Panther film. 

Plot details for the sequel are also currently being kept under wraps, the only thing we do know for certain is that Marvel won’t be recasting Chadwick Boseman’s character, the king of Wakanda, T’Challa.

After Boseman’s death from colon cancer in 2020, Marvel boss Kevin Feige confirmed the film’s sequel would not replace him with another actor, saying his performance was “iconic and transcends any interation of the character in any other medium from Marvel’s past”.  

Feige added: “To honour the legacy that Chad helped us build, we want to continue to explore the world of Wakanda and all the rich and varied characters introduced in the first film.”

With this in mind, we can’t wait to see the upcoming Black Panther sequel – November 2022 can’t come soon enough! 

Images: Getty/Disney