Michael B. Jordan's Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Role Was Kept Under Wraps With Lies
Actors lie about their involvement in big superhero movies all the time ... just ask Andrew Garfield. The man lied to the Internet for two long years, and successfully dodged any questions that could get him into trouble with the executives at Marvel, making sure his return as Spider-Man in the 2022 film "Spider-Man: No Way Home" would remain a secret. The lying never ends for anybody. It was the same tedious process for actor Michael B. Jordan, who had to keep his super secret role in "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" hidden from everyone — including his family and friends.
The actor played the villainous Erik Killmonger in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and had a pivotal role in the first "Black Panther" film as its antagonist. While fans waited with bated breath to hear the actor confirm his involvement in the sequel, they were only met with disappointment. Jordan managed to keep the role a mystery with a web of lies: he couldn't tell a single soul that he would return to the silver screen as Killmonger again.
'Deny, deny, deny, deny, deny until the end'
Michael B. Jordan's surprising return in "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" comes after Shuri (Letitia Wright) is seen visiting the Ancestral Plane. In the time leading up to the film's release, Jordan was questioned several times about the odds of Killmonger returning ... but he remained tight-lipped and didn't give much of a response. Turns out the actor had been bluffing all this time.
Of course, he's in "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," and his new residence in the Ancestral Plane makes us wonder how often we will see him in the MCU. The actor exclusively spoke with Extra, detailing how he kept up with the lies Marvel needed him to tell.
"I had to lie to my family over here. I had to lie to everybody out here... I had to just keep it under wraps ... When you're dealing with Marvel and stuff like that, you know the routine. So you just gotta, you know, deny, deny, deny, deny, deny until the end of it, yeah."
In "Black Panther," Jordan played Killmonger, a cousin to King T'Challa, an ambitious revolutionary who aimed to overthrow the Wakandan king and avenge his father's death. After a life of violence, Killmonger is defeated and killed in a battle against T'Challa. In his final moments, he makes amends, dying peacefully by his cousin's side, watching the mesmerizing Wakandan sunset. Seeing the actor reprise the role in "Wakanda Forever" was quite a surprise for fans — after the first film had already offered a definitive conclusion.
If there's anything we learned from Jordan's cameo, it is that nothing in the MCU lasts forever. Here's hoping we can see him as Killmonger again in the future.