Black Panther director Ryan Coogler is working on at least one Disney+ TV series exploring the MCU’s Kingdom of Wakanda – and here are all the potential ideas set up in the film. Even Marvel Studios could never have anticipated just how successful Black Panther would be, with the film becoming a cultural event and grossing over $1.3 billion in the global box office. Ryan Coogler and his production team created a lavish vision of a fictional African nation, producing a 500-page Wakanda Bible that detailed the history, culture, and geography of the country.
Coogler, the mastermind behind Black Panther‘s vision of Wakanda, has signed up for a five-year exclusive contract with Disney. As part of this, he’s confirmed to be working on a Disney+ MCU TV series set in Wakanda, but the deal seems even bigger than that. In an official press statement, Coogler notes his production company “will be working closely with [Marvel Studios] on select MCU shows for Disney+. We’re already in the mix on some projects that we can’t wait to share.” Note the plurals in that quote, which indicate Coogler may well be developing a range of different Wakandan shows. Such an approach would make sense; if multiple Disney+ shows were set in Wakanda, sets could be reused in order to both control costs and help give the sense the action was all happening in the same place.
No doubt the Wakanda Bible is absolutely packed with potential ideas, many of which won’t have even been alluded to yet. After all, in the comics the jungles of Wakanda are home to all manner of ancient mystic temples and totems. Still, for all that’s the case, Black Panther itself set up a lot of potential spinoffs.
The History of Wakanda
In Marvel Comics, the line of Black Panthers stretches back 1,000,000 years, to the first Black Panther – a tribal chieftain who was blessed by Bast the Panther God and actually joined a prehistoric version of the Avengers. The history of Wakanda in the MCU isn’t quite so prolific, with the nation unified 10,000 years ago. The sacred mountain containing Wakanda’s precious Vibranium is named Mount Bashenga, after the country’s first king, and the mines around Shuri’s lab may actually be the oldest part of the nation. In The Art of Black Panther, Production Designer Hannah Beachler revealed an ancient drill bit seen in the background could be 5,000 years old.
Marvel has clearly put a great deal of thought into the history of Wakanda, and as such it is intriguing to imagine Disney+ shows that explore the country’s history and heritage. These could star ancient Black Panthers of the past, revealing how the Wakandans discovered the Heart-Shaped Herb that grants a Black Panther their powers. They could even resolve mysteries of the past, perhaps with one set in the early 20th century that finally reveals how Howard Stark acquired a sample of Vibranium to make Captain America’s shield.
Tales of the Tribes of Wakanda
As well as introducing T’Challa and his family, Black Panther also brought the five tribes of Wakanda to the big screen; the Border Tribe, the River Tribe, the Mining Tribe, the Merchant Tribe, and the Jabari, who are ruled by M’Baku. The Wakandan Bible is confirmed to describe every one of these tribes in detail, and Black Panther‘s costume designers gave representatives from each one beautiful and distinctive clothing. Coogler could potentially choose to explore all of these tribes, perhaps by telling some adventure story that spans the entire country of Wakanda, and leads to contact with each of the five tribes. Such an approach would add tremendous depth to Wakanda, while secondary and background characters could be fleshed out in the same way WandaVision has developed supporting cast from the Thor and Ant-Man franchises.
The Dora Milaje
Black Panther presented a vision of a society that had historically encouraged women to serve as warriors as well as men. The Dora Milaje are Wakanda’s premiere military force, with Marvel comparing them to the US Navy SEALS or the UK’s Special Boat Service – skilled warriors who protect Wakanda from any threat. Audiences worldwide fell in love with the stunning design of the Dora Milaje, and would no doubt be thrilled to watch a Disney+ show centered upon their adventures. There is even comic book precedent for such a story, with Ta-Nehisi Coates writing a Black Panther: World of Wakanda series that fleshed out some of the Dora Milaje as characters.
Shuri & the Wakandan Design Group
Black Panther introduced Letitia Wright as Shuri, T’Challa’s younger sister – but it radically reinvented the character from the comics, turning her into a teenage genius who was head of the Wakandan Design Group. With Wakanda having opened its borders and revealed its advanced technology to the world, no doubt Shuri has become something of a global celebrity. But the world has already seen Wakandan secrets go badly wrong in Avengers: Age of Ultron, when Ultron used stolen Vibranium in an attempt to wipe out the human race. And it’s notable WandaVision has introduced SWORD, an organization apparently now interested in home-grown threats such as nanotechnology and artificial intelligences – both fields Wakanda excels in. A Disney+ series focused on Shuri and the Wakandan Design Group would therefore be an exploration of Wakanda’s role in the world post-Avengers: Endgame, ahead of Black Panther 2.
The War Dogs
Black Panther established that the Kings of Wakanda have agents scattered across the world, spies who act in Wakanda’s interests and interfere whenever they deem it necessary. These operatives are called the War Dogs, and some of their members are idealists like Nakia who dream of a better world. Unfortunately other War Dogs find themselves compromised by contact with the rest of the world, and make morally dubious decisions; Prince N’Jobu went so far as to orchestrate a theft of Vibranium from Wakanda in the hopes of arming Black insurrections worldwide. When Killmonger briefly took over Wakanda, several groups of War Dogs were eager to support his brutal new foreign policy. It would be fascinating to learn more of Wakanda’s spy network, and perhaps even to explore the inherently conflicted views of different War Dogs. Such a show would be very different to the others in this list – it would be set in other countries just as much as in Wakanda – but it would nevertheless allow audiences a fresh glimpse into the ways of Wakanda.
The Hunt For Klaue
The final possibility is that Marvel and Coogler could make a series exploring the history of Ulysses Klaue, who was played by Andy Serkis in Avengers: Age of Ultron and Black Panther. Klaue’s end is generally felt to have been disappointing, but Marvel could easily make a series about his flight from Wakandan justice back in the ’90s – shortly after he had first stolen samples of their precious Vibranium. This would be an opportunity to do justice to Klaue as a character, while it would provide an outsider’s eye view on Wakanda. That would be a fascinating approach for a Black Panther-inspired TV series to take.