Posted in: Disney+, Marvel, Movies, TV | Tagged: black panther, Okoye

Black Panther: Danai Gurira/Okoye Spinoff Hopes Not Looking Good

Marvel Studios' Brad Winderbaum sees a bright future for Danai Gurira's Okoye in the MCU - just not in a "Black Panther" spinoff series.

With Daredevil: Born Again set to hit Disney+ at the top of next month, Marvel Television and Marvel Animation head Brad Winderbaum has been hitting the press circuit to not only promote the series but also drop updates on various projects in development – or in this case, unfortunately, not in development. Back in 2021, the news hit that The Walking Dead star Danai Gurira would be reprising her role as Okoye, the general of the Dora Milaje, from Ryan Coogler's "Black Panther" films – with Coogler's Proximity Media producing. Adding to the buzz was a reference in The Hollywood Reporter profile of Jamie Mandelbaum in the feature "Power Lawyers 2021: Hollywood's Top 100 Attorneys" that addressed the project.

"Last year saw Mandelbaum negotiate two major deals with HBO. The first resulted in massive pay raises for the 'Succession' cast (Brian Cox and Nicholas Braun are clients of his). The second was for showrunner Michael Patrick King to revisit 'Sex and the City,' with his reboot now in production at HBO Max. Meanwhile, the rep — who also works with such showrunners as '9-1-1's' Tim Minear and 'The Handmaid's Tale's' Bruce Miller — brokered a deal for actress Danai Gurira to not only reprise her role as Okoye in the upcoming 'Black Panther' sequel but also in an origin spinoff series for Disney+," read the caption.

During a visit with Stephen Colbert's CBS late-night talk show in January 2023, Gurira appeared to tease that the project was still in play. After Colbert asked about its status, Gurira's body language gave the impression that Colbert had gotten into territory that she couldn't discuss. Eventually, Gurira responded that she could "gently allude to this possibility" (adding, "gently alluding"). A little more than two years later, Winderbaum, it sounds like Gurira's Okoye has a bright future in the MCU – just not in a series. "I think fans of Okoye are going to be excited to see her come back, but I don't think it's going to be in a television show. I can't say where and when, but I think there's a lot to look forward to,' Winderbaum shared during an interview with Pay or Wait (which you can check out in its entirety above).

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!