BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER Concept Art Reveals How Daniel Kaluuya's W'Kabi Costume Would Have Looked

Some newly revealed Black Panther: Wakanda Forever concept art shows us the costume Daniel Kaluuya would have donned as the returning W'Kabi had he not been forced to pass on the sequel due to Nope...

By JoshWilding - Jan 05, 2023 10:01 AM EST

Filed Under: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever's script understandably went through significant changes after Chadwick Boseman passed away. While a few minor details have been revealed, we're unlikely to ever find out what Marvel Studios originally had planned for the sequel, with the story arcs of many characters almost certainly changing amid those rewrites.

Daniel Kaluuya was supposed to return as W'Kabi, but his commitment to Jordan Peele's Nope left the actor unable to shoot any sort of role in the movie.

In Black Panther, W'Kabi, who was married to Okoye, betrayed T'Challa and decided to align himself with Erik Killmonger. That decision would ultimately cost him everything, and the character actually received a mention in Wakanda Forever when Queen Ramonda pointed out to Okoye that, unlike her son, he's still alive and remains in exile.

Now, thanks to artist Niek Schlosser, we can see what W'Kabi would have looked like in the sequel. Clearly, he was going to be allowed to return to action in order to fight for his nation again, though we have to believe the fallen hero would have received the cold shoulder from the likes of M'Baku and Shuri.

Talking about Kaluuya's absence last year, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever director Ryan Coogler was asked about W'Kabi's status. "He's basically banished, but still within Wakanda’s borders, if that makes sense," the filmmaker noted. "It's one line that refers to him still being alive."

The actor, who has been tapped to lend his voice to Spider-Punk in this summer's Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, is bound to return to the MCU at some point. That could be in the long-rumoured Wakanda-set spin-off coming to Disney+ or in the eventual Black Panther 3.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is still playing in theaters, and will premiere on Disney+ on February 1.

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31 Comments

Origame - 1/5/2023, 10:05 AM

So...what he wore in the first movie?

Shocking!

bobevanz - 1/5/2023, 10:08 AM

This is more important

Spoken - 1/5/2023, 10:12 AM

@bobevanz - AMAZING!!!! What a great take!

Origame - 1/5/2023, 10:14 AM

@bobevanz - f@#$ing finally nic cage is a vampire.

IMCOOLURNOT - 1/5/2023, 10:10 AM

DocSpock - 1/5/2023, 10:30 AM

You should see what I would have worn to moon the PTA last week if I had bothered to wear anything at all.

Origame - 1/5/2023, 11:47 AM

@DocSpock - ...doesn't clothes just get in the way of a good mooning?

DocSpock - 1/5/2023, 11:56 AM

@Origame -

A$$less chaps getcha in the door before anyone sees ya turn around and get the party started.

Origame - 1/5/2023, 1:11 PM

@DocSpock - in the door...for a PTA meeting?

DocSpock - 1/5/2023, 1:14 PM

@Origame -

A true genius is never understood in his lifetime.

WaffeX - 1/5/2023, 10:40 AM

@JoshWilding - "Now, thanks to artist Niek Schlosser, we can see what M'Baku would have looked like in the sequel."

his name is W'Kabi

GhostDog - 1/5/2023, 10:41 AM

"Where is her treacherous husband now?"

soberchimera - 1/5/2023, 10:46 AM

Completely forgot that he was absent in this movie, which just goes to show that the first movie had waaaaaaaay too many supporting characters.

CAPTAINPINKEYE - 1/5/2023, 10:58 AM

@soberchimera - or maybe you drink too much? 😜

soberchimera - 1/5/2023, 11:19 AM

@CAPTAINPINKEYE -

tmp3 - 1/5/2023, 10:48 AM

ot: lfgggg

@regularmovieguy @dredd97

regularmovieguy - 1/5/2023, 11:10 AM

@tmp3

April! 🤝🏻

Chuck420Taylor - 1/5/2023, 11:10 AM

@tmp3 - so Ari now makes disturbing posters. No trailers just show me to my seat.

tmp3 - 1/5/2023, 11:15 AM

@regularmovieguy - this year looks so [frick]ing packed jeez. beau and evil dead in the same month, and march just looks like a bloodbath

regularmovieguy - 1/5/2023, 11:19 AM

@tmp3

I saw a graphic of the big releases for 2023 yesterday and it looks absurd. Jam packed.

Dredd97 - 1/5/2023, 12:22 PM

@tmp3 - I'm so intrigued by this. everything sounds fascinating

also, super stoked for the new evil dead

Redfield looks like shit

DocSpock - 1/5/2023, 1:13 PM

@tmp3 -

What the Hell is this?

McMurdo - 1/5/2023, 3:44 PM

@tmp3 - if it ain't horror who cares

tmp3 - 1/5/2023, 5:06 PM

@McMurdo - lmfao nothing wrong with aster doing another genre, and joaquin is an incredible actor. always weird takes from you.

@dredd97 - renfield looks like the most boring take they could have done with the premise of nic cage dracula :/ shame because i thought hoult had such good comedic timing in the menu
there’s another movie out that month called chevalier that got great reviews out of tiff and stars kelvin harreson jr, and i just found out it’s from the director of this extraordinary being from watchmen! so that’s another one on my radar now

Dredd97 - 1/5/2023, 6:28 PM

@tmp3 - seriously. and Cage as Dracula is a great choice. shame it's a "Well that just happened" ass script. Hoult was probably my favorite part of the menu, which I liked overall. but his character was so compelling.

oh wow! I will check that put. that was such a damn good episode

tmp3 - 1/5/2023, 9:35 PM

@Dredd97 - hoult's a solid actor, i'm excited to see him in eggers' nosferatu. feel like he'd be a fun hush in terms of meta-casting since he was runner-up for batman, haha

IcePyke - 1/5/2023, 11:01 AM

Okoye banished him to a nice place...

JstaKIDfrmBKLYN - 1/5/2023, 11:35 AM

So the same.

BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER Concept Art Reveals How Daniel Kaluuya's W'Kabi Costume Would Have Looked

Some newly revealed Black Panther: Wakanda Forever concept art shows us the costume Daniel Kaluuya would have donned as the returning W'Kabi had he not been forced to pass on the sequel due to Nope...

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