If you were the top producers at Marvel Studios, and you knew you needed to capture footage that eventually would go into the Black Panther sequel, Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever, then naturally, the first place you would head is… Worchester, Massachusetts? That’s definitely off the beaten path for a studio that tends to film in Atlanta, Georgia and the UK. And the first Black Panther escaped to South Korea to capture outdoor location shots for that memorable casino fight scene and subsequent chase. But a new report puts Wakanda Forever in New England, starting this summer.
Sources have told Spectrum News in Massachusetts that an unnamed Marvel movie that is going to be a sequel to a popular 2018 MCU movie (duh, it’s Black Panther) will be filming in Worchester over the next few months. One of the locations that was singled out for location filming is the Worchester Police Department headquarters, suggesting to us that the plotline of Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever will bring some key characters out of the hidden African nation and over to the States. Why? We have no idea yet.
Speaking to Spectrum News in the market, Edgar Luna, the city of Worcester’s Economic Development Office business development manager, stated:
We are lucky to have a major Disney production filming here in the next couple of months. It was a movie that was extremely successful in 2018. We are pleased they have selected us. The previous movie was filmed in Georgia and Korea. Now they're coming here.
Eyes already are on Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever as fans wait to see how Marvel Studios and director Ryan Coogler are going to move on from Chadwick Boseman, and the legacy that he left on the property. There hasn’t been any indication of the plan that the sequel will have for explaining T’Challa’s absence from the story. In the comics, the mantle of Black Panther had been passed to T’Challa’s sister, who is played by Letitia Wright. There’s a possibility that she steps into the role for the sequel. That much might be made clearer as we see photos from the Worchester set.
One other rumor swirling around Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever is that it will introduce Namor and his underwater kingdom of Atlantis. Casting rumors have placed Tenoch Huerta in the role, and Atlantis has us thinking that a seaside New England town could be a needed backdrop for key scenes. Not that Worchester is near the ocean. It’s about an hour west of Boston. But the atmosphere of the town could be what Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever needs to set its tone.
The Black Panther sequel is one of several sequels that Marvel will release in 2022. For real, if 2021 is the year to introduce new characters like Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) and the Eternals, then 2022 is the year of sequels. Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), and Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) all will continue their adventures, introducing new characters and expanding their worlds. You have our Upcoming Marvel Movies Guide bookmarked, right? It’d be a good idea.
