Daniel Kaluuya is not making the trip back to Wakanda. The Oscar winner will not be appearing in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the highly anticipated sequel to Marvel’s Black Panther, due to scheduling conflicts with Jordan Peele’s Nope.
The news that Kaluuya would not be returning for the sequel began circulating online Wednesday afternoon, first reported by Rotten Tomatoes awards editor Jacqueline Cooley. “Breaking news: Fresh from my NOPE interview with Daniel Kaluuya he did not reprise his role in #BlackPanther2 due to his schedule conflicts w/ #NOPE!” tweeted Cooley. “It’s official he’s not in #BlackPantherWakandaForever.” A source with knowledge of the production confirmed to Vanity Fair that Kaluuya will not be appearing in the sequel.
Kaluuya portrayed W’Kabi—T’Challa’s best friend and head of security for the Border Tribe, which served as Wakanda’s first line of defense—in 2018’s Black Panther. He appeared in the film alongside Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, and the late Chadwick Boseman, who starred as T’Challa. The sequel is rumored to see Wright’s character, Shuri, step into the titular role of the heroic Black Panther. In August of last year, Wright fractured her shoulder while performing a stunt on location in Boston, which caused a major delay in production. Production on the sequel resumed with Wright in early January.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is set to hit theaters November 11, 2022.