Black Panther 2 director: Will Ryan Coogler return for the Black Panther sequel?

Get ready to go back to Wakanda.

Black Panther director Ryan Coogler will be returning to the franchise.

The Hollywood Reporter says sources have confirmed Coogler has closed the deal to direct the sequel.

While this was never really in doubt, as Marvel planned to keep as much of the creative team from the groundbreaking 2018 movie as possible.

Initial suspicions were Coogler would not waste any time in signing a deal for the sequel.

However, Coogler’s team took its time in responding, leaving fans to speculate about when – and if – a sequel would arrive.

Fans can sigh with relief, now, as sourced told The Hollywood Reporter Coogler plans to pen the script in 2019, and to start production in late 2019 or early 2020.

The first Black Panther movie was an unmitigated success, both commercially and critically.

Disney has put Black Panther forward for 16 nominations.

These include Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and more.

Coogler himself has been busy since the success of Black Panther.

He is currently developing a movie called Wrong Answer, a drama with Black Panther star Michael B. Jordan.

Coogler is also acting as executive producer for the Space Jam sequel starring LeBron James and the upcoming Creed 2 (also with Michael B. Jordan).

The eventual resurrection of the fallen heroes from Avengers Infinity War means you can expect T’Challa aka Black Panther himself (played by Chadwick Boseman) to feature in Black Panther 2.

Other actors expected to reprise their roles are Lupita Nyong’o (Nakia), Danai Gurira (Okoye), Letitia Wright (Shuri), Winston Duke (M’Baku) and Daniel Kaluuya (W’Kabi).

In March, Marvel head Kevin Feige told Entertainment Weekly: “One of the favourite pastimes at Marvel Studios is sitting around on a Part One talking and dreaming about what we would do in a Part Two.

“There have been plenty of those conversations as we were putting together the first ‘Black Panther.

“We have ideas and a pretty solid direction on where we want to head with the second one.”

Black Panther currently holds a 97 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

If you’re in America, you can watch Black Panther on Netflix.

For fans in the UK, you’ll need a Now TV subscription.