Lupita Nyong'o poses at The 70th Annual Tony Awards Meet The Nominees Press Junket at The Diamond Horseshoe at the Paramount Hotel on May 4, 2016 in New York City. (Photo : Getty Images/Bruce Glikas)
Marvel’s “Black Panther” is eyeing to cast Lupita Nyong’o to play the titular role’s love interest, but the casting is yet to be officially confirmed by the actress. Currently, details on her role are still under wraps as producers stay mum about which Marvel counterpart she will be asked to portray.
While Nyong’o’s character is being kept as a secret, sources say that she will be tapped to play the love interest of lead character, Chadwick Boseman, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. In “Black Panther," Boseman will take the role of T’Challa who is described as the hero of Wakanda and must reign over his African country after the death of his father. The character was first unveiled in the box office smash, “Captain America: Civil War” which starred Robert Downey Jr. and Steve Rogers.
According to Deadline, a source said that there have been many talks about the actress joining the Marvel franchise, but they still do not know for sure if she will do the project. With regards to Nyong’o’s mysterious role, the publication said that fans must rule out the possibility that she will portray Ororo Munroe aka The “X-Men’s” Storm, since rights to all “X-Men” characters are already with FOX. Plus, the character is currently being played by Alexandra Shipp in “X-Men: Apocalypse."
Should the actress boards “Black Panther,” it will gain her another good credit on her long list of filmography. The actress’ previous works are top-billed movies including “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and “The Jungle Book." She currently stars on Disney’s “Queen of Katwe” with David Oyelowo. In 2014, Nyong’o won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for the film “12 Years A Slave."
Ryan Coogler (Creed) is set to direct and write the script for “Black Panther” with Kevin Feige as the film’s producer. Marvel has scheduled to launch the movie on Feb. 16, 2018.
To know about the origins of "Black Panther" in Marvel history, watch the clip below:
