Thought we were going to have to wait years until we could return to the world of Black Panther? Think again.
In a shocking, but incredibly satisfying, turn of events, Marvel Studios has announced that a hitherto-unknown Black Panther animated series is headed to Disney Plus in 2024. Titled Eyes of Wakanda, the show is set to be the next time we’ll return to the titular African nation following Nov. 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which established Shuri as the country’s new protector in the wake of her brother, the late King T’Challa’s, loss.
The next time, it may be, but it’ll be far from the last time, as Marvel already has a bunch of other Black Panther spinoffs in the works, for both the big and small screens. Let’s chow down on a heart-shaped herb and run through them all.
Eyes of Wakanda
At a special presentation to promote the premiere of What If…? season 2, Marvel announced the existence of Eyes of Wakanda, the very first TV spinoff of the Black Panther franchise. The official synopsis reads: “Throughout Wakandan history, brave warriors have been tasked to travel the world retrieving dangerous vibranium artifacts. This is their story.” That’s all we know about it for now, but it certainly sounds like Eyes could be an anthology series, with different episodes centering on brave Wakandan warriors down the centuries. Expect it on Disney Plus sometime in 2024.
Ironheart
It says something about the chaotic state of Marvel’s live-action TV shows right now that Ironheart has been in development for far longer than Eyes and yet it’s not going to be here until 2025. Production concluded on this starring vehicle for Dominique Thorne’s Riri Williams in fall 2022, the same time she made her big MCU debut in Wakanda Forever. However, significant reshoots are expected to take place in 2024. Anthony Ramos is playing villain The Hood while Alden Ehrenreich is Ezekiel “Son of Obadiah” Stane. And, um *mumbles* Sacha Baron Cohen might be Mephisto. Moving on…
Black Panther 3
Black Panther 3 has yet to be officially announced, but it certainly seems like a safe bet. Yes, Kevin Feige may well be more reluctant to greenlight sequels everywhere after The Marvels debacle, but with Wakanda Forever being one of the Multiverse Saga’s biggest box office hits, thanks to its $859 million worldwide haul, there’s surely no reason not to do it. Especially as Ryan Coogler is firmly entrenched at Marvel at this point, thanks to his five-year deal to make TV content for Disney Plus. Speaking of…
Kingdom of Wakanda (maybe)
When Coogler’s deal was first announced in 2021, it was swiftly reported that he was naturally working on a live-action TV show set in the Black Panther-verse, a show which came to be known as Kingdom of Wakanda. When Wakanda Forever released, however, producer Nate Moore admitted that the sequel had stolen so much of Coogler and the team’s time that the live-action series had been put on the back burner.
With the announcement of Eyes, some are speculating that Kingdom has simply morphed into an animated series. I doubt that as Eyes is set outside of Wakanda while the live-action show takes place on Wakandan turf. Fingers crossed we’ll get to see Kingdom‘s final form eventually.