A new piece of promotional artwork for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever features a trio of Wakandan warrior women -- with Shuri (Letitia Wright) standing front and center.
The artwork, shared to the r/MarvelStudiosSpoilers subreddit, sees Shuri sporting her new purple outfit and giving the Wakandan salute. The sister of King T'Challa is flanked by Nakia (Lupita Nyong'o), who is sporting her new underwater armor, and Okoye (Danai Gurira), leader of the Dora Milaje. The scientifically gifted Shuri taking center stage hardly comes as a surprise, seeing as how she is the odds-on favorite to take up the mantle of Black Panther in the absence of T'Challa, played by the late, great Chadwick Boseman.
The sequel to the smash-hit 2018 Marvel Studios film Black Panther, Wakanda Forever is set to hit theaters later this year on Friday, Nov. 11, with Ryan Coogler returning to the director's chair. The highly anticipated film will close out Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Phase Five is set to begin three months after the fact with the release of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania on Feb. 17, 2023.
Of course, Wright, Nyong'o and Gurira aren't the only Black Panther stars reprising their respective roles for the sequel. Wakanda Forever also marks the return of Winston Duke as M'Baku, Florence Kasumba as Ayo, Angela Bassett as Ramonda and Martin Freeman as Everett K. Ross.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Is the Next MCU Film
The Black Panther sequel also features a number of MCU newcomers, including I May Destroy You creator, director, writer and star Michaela Coel as Aneka; Tenoch Huerta as Marvel's original mutant, Namor the Sub-Mariner; and Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams/Ironheart. Following her debut in Wakanda Forever, Thorne will reprise her role as Riri in Marvel Studios' Disney+ original series Ironheart, which is slated to premiere in the fall of 2023 as part of Phase Five of the MCU.
"Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Shuri (Letitia Wright), M'Baku (Winston Duke), Okoye (Danai Gurira) and the Dora Milaje (including Florence Kasumba), fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T'Challa's death," an official synopsis for Wakanda Forever reads. "As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with the help of War Dog Nakia (Lupita Nyong'o) and Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) and forge a new path for the kingdom of Wakanda."
Marvel Studios' Black Panther: Wakanda Forever releases in theaters on Nov. 11.
Source: Reddit