Black Panther 2 finally has a release date and it’s much, much too far away

Marvel officially confirmed Black Panther 2 at this year’s D-23 Expo in Anaheim, but the release date is a lot further away than any of us thought.

Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige and director Ryan Coogler have confirmed that a sequel to Black Panther is officially in the works.

But it feels unlikely that anyone’s going to be too surprised Black Panther 2 is happening. We pretty much all called it immediately after the first one was released to critical acclaim, awards nominations and a hefty box office take back in February of 2018.

Are we all a little shocked that it took Marvel over a year to officially confirm that we’re going back to Wakanda? Okay, maybe. A little bit.

But it seems unlikely that anyone was ready for Marvel to tell us that we’d have to wait until 2022 to see this sequel.

No, you did not suddenly enter a waking nightmare. That is not a typo. That’s the actual release date. Almost three years from now. Over four from the first film’s premiere. Whew.

Marvel officially confirmed the existence of Black Panther 2 during their film panel at Disney’s annual D-23 Expo in Anaheim, California. Though both Coogler and Feige were present, none of the franchise’s cast made an appearance and they didn’t tell us much about what to expect from the sequel. (And no word on that Namor rumor. Sigh.)

“We’re not taking our time, we’re really trying to get it right,” Coogler said during the D-23 presentation.

Which, you know, I’m sure we all appreciate. But it’s hard not to feel a little bit impatient – and a large part of the reason for that is that the initial film was so darn good. So, you know, it’s kind of a Catch-22 – we want it now, but we want it quality, too.

Reportedly, Black Panther 2 is a working title, so start your speculation engines now about what the real one might turn out to be. The film will hit theaters on May 6, 2021.