Daniel Kaluuya, star of Marvel’s Black Panther (2018), has announced today that he will not be reprising his role for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022). The news, which was posted on Twitter this morning, states that the actor has had to decline his role as W’Kabi due to scheduling conflicts with Jordan Peele’s Nope.
Released in 2018, Marvel’s Black Panther featured the late Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa, the newly-crowned king of Wakanda, a secretive but advanced society that relies on the Black Panther for protection. Still reeling from his father’s death, T’Challa must juggle the mantle of Black Panther with the decision to open Wakanda’s borders to the world and Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) ‘s attempts at a coup. Thankfully. T’Challa has a set of steadfast allies in the form of his mother Ramonda (Angela Basset), his sister Shuri (Letitia Wright), his ex-lover Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), and the all-female Dora Milaje unit headed by Okoye (Danai Gurira). Daniel Kaluuya appeared in the first Black Panther as W’Kabi, another confidant of T’Challa’s and the new king’s best friend, and the head of security for Wakanda’s Border Tribe.
Why Daniel Kaluuya Won’t Be Coming Back
Though many members of Black Panther’s cast will be reprising their roles in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, including Basset, Wright, Gurira, Nyong’o, Martin Freeman, and Winston Duke, Deadline reports that Kaluuya will not be returning as W’Kabi due to scheduling conflicts with his role as OJ Haywood in Nope, a sci-fi horror film that features “residents of a lonely gulch in inland California” as they “bear witness to an uncanny and chilling discovery,” according to the official film synopsis. Kaluuya will be starring alongside Keke Palmer (Alice) and Steven Yeun (Minari). The official news of Daniel Kaluuya’s exit from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was announced on Rotten Tomato’s Twitter earlier this morning.
https://twitter.com/THATJacqueline/status/1547292268565958656?s=20&t=desOxhapxsgNbPcjh5rVow
Despite the large number of cast members reprising their roles in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Daniel Kaluuya will not be the only one unable to reprise his role; after the 2020 passing of Chadwick Boseman, Marvel made the decision to not recast the role of T’Challa, instead moving the Black Panther sequel forward with the intention to honor Boseman’s legacy and “explore other characters from the world of ‘Black Panther,'” according to Variety. It is currently unknown what the film’s leaders intend to do with the role of W’Kabi and whether or not they intend to recast the role.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, directed by Ryan Coogler (Creed) and starring Letitia Wright and Angela Basset, will be released on November 11th, 2022. Nope, directed by Jordan Peele (Get Out) and starring Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, and Steven Yeun will be released on July 22nd, 2022.