While Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong’o isn’t on deck to appear on the 2025 movie schedule, she’s naturally a point of discussion thanks to all of the rumors surrounding Black Panther 3. Writer/director Ryan Coogler’s eventual return to the MCU is of particular interest to the world after Denzel Washington claimed his Marvel debut would be in that very picture. So someone asking The Wild Robot star about her thoughts was something that anyone could have called.
However, the answer that Ms. Nyong’o gave was one that we might all be able to take a lesson from. As she spoke with EW’s in-house podcast The Awardist, the actor who plays Wakandan spy Nakia was approached on two different fronts to discuss what’s going on with the upcoming Marvel movie in development. You can read below what Lupita Nyong’o had to share, and quite frankly, it’s refreshing:
Well, I won’t believe it until I hear it from Ryan himself, because what if Denzel has a role and I don’t? Let me stay humble and ignorant until the leader of the pack actually says something.
I love to speculate as much as anyone else about what the future holds for some of my favorite franchises. The next Black Panther is a unique opportunity for such thoughts, as the rumored recasting of Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa brings up a lot of possibilities for what could come next. While landing the fellow Academy Award winner and Gladiator II scene stealer would be a casting coup, in whatever role is being considered, Denzel Washington isn’t exactly locked into this gig just yet.
Meanwhile, as Ms. Nyong’o said in this piece of her response to the matter, there’s a possibility that she might not even be in the next chapter. Which makes sense as Wakanda Forever’s ending saw Nakia revealing she had a secret child with the late Wakandan king. As an actor, why would you want to even imagine a movie that you may or may not be a part of?
We should also consider the emotional weight of this scenario, as Chadwick Boseman’s untimely passing is still a subject that’s fraught with bittersweet memories. I’d like to think that applies to the part of this response, in which Lupita Nyong’o addresses that potential recasting head on:
Honestly, I do not put any energy into trying to imagine a future that I have no control of. So we’ll see. And when we know more, we’ll know more.
There’s tons of excitement surrounding the potential that Black Panther 3 would bring to the world. But sadly, we don’t know much about it beyond whatever clues may be lying in the past, waiting for those with a Disney+ subscription to hunt them down. So really, we all have two options: either speculate a ridiculous amount and get our hopes up, or wait it out and take things easy.
There’s no bad answers here, but I really appreciate that Lupita Nyong’o has chosen the latter option. Even in something as simple as working on or being a fan of a property such as this, it’s important to look after your own mind, and be open to whatever actually happens.
Thankfully, for Marvel fans, there are plenty of new thrills coming down the line, such as February 14th’s release of Captain America: Brave New World. And if the rumors surrounding that film’s plot are any indication, there’ll be plenty to chew over in the aftermath of that picture.
