Ryan Coogler’s original Black Panther 2 would have handled this important MCU trope in a unique way

During a conversation with New York Times, Ryan Coogler, and co-writer Joe Robert Cole talked about their original idea for a Black Panther sequel that would explore the aftermath and effects of Blip. “It was absolutely unlike what we did,” Coogler said of the original story. The director continued by revealing that the film was supposed to be about T’Challa and his son with Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o). “It had to be a father and son story from a father’s point of view, because the first film was a father and son story from a son’s point of view,” he said. In the first Black Panther movie, T’Challa came to terms with his late father T’Chaka’s (John Kani) decision to kill his own brother and abandon his nephew, who grew up to become the film’s antagonist, Eric Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan).

“T’Challa was scripted as a father forced by a five-year absence from his son’s life,” Coogler continued, discussing how the opening moments of the sequel would have been an animated episode featuring Nakia and their son. Toussaint. “You understand that he does not know that his father was a Black Panther. He never met him… Then we get real and it’s the night everyone comes back from Blip. You see T’Challa meeting a baby for the first time.”

“Then that cuts back three years into the future and he’s essentially a parent,” Coogler said. The director then revealed that the film was to be set in the summer, with T’Challa’s son joining him in Wakanda on a mission to save the world.

Coogler’s original direction isn’t too surprising, given that a common element of the MCU is the study of son-father relationships. In seminal films like Iron Man 2, Thor, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and even recent additions like Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, heroes have struggled to form relationships with their fathers. . However, Coogler’s vision would definitely be intriguing.