Wakanda TV Series Coming From 'Black Panther' Director Ryan Coogler, More Marvel Shows In The Works
Black Panther director Ryan Coogler is sticking with the House of Mouse. Coogler's Proximity Media has just signed a five-year overall exclusive television deal with Disney, which will have Coogler developing new television series for Disney+ and other TV divisions of the company. And that deal already has a project that will have people buzzing: a Wakanda TV series is headed to Disney+.
Disney announced the deal themselves today, revealing that the company has "entered into a five-year overall exclusive television deal with writer-director-producer Ryan Coogler's Proximity Media, with principals Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian, Ludwig Göransson, Archie Davis, and Peter Nicks." Coogler wrote and directed the huge Disney/Marvel hit Black Panther, and is set to direct the sequel as well. On top of that, Coogler and Proximity are developing a Black Panther spin-off TV series for Disney+ set in the Kingdom of Wakanda. There aren't many other details for the show beyond that, but that's probably enough to get plenty of people excited.
Regarding the deal, Bob Iger, Executive Chairman of The Walt Disney Company, said: "Ryan Coogler is a singular storyteller whose vision and range have made him one of the standout filmmakers of his generation. With Black Panther, Ryan brought a groundbreaking story and iconic characters to life in a real, meaningful and memorable way, creating a watershed cultural moment. We're thrilled to strengthen our relationship and look forward to telling more great stories with Ryan and his team."
Coogler added: "It's an honor to be partnering with The Walt Disney Company. Working with them on Black Panther was a dream come true. As avid consumers of television, we couldn't be happier to be launching our television business with Bob Iger, Dana Walden and all the amazing studios under the Disney umbrella. We look forward to learning, growing, and building a relationship with audiences all over the world through the Disney platforms. We are especially excited that we will be taking our first leap with Kevin Feige, Louis D'Esposito, Victoria Alonso, and their partners at Marvel Studios where we will be working closely with them on select MCU shows for Disney+. We're already in the mix on some projects that we can't wait to share."
As you can see in the quote above, Coogler hints at working on multiple Marvel Cinematic Universe shows, not just the Wakanda series. The deal also enables Proximity to develop television for other divisions of the Company. All of this is very good news – my only hope is that Coogler will work on projects outside of the Disney/Marvel stratosphere, too. This deal seems to consist entirely of TV projects, so if Coogler wants to go off and make a non-Disney movie, that shouldn't be an issue. In the meantime, Black Panther 2 is currently scheduled to arrive on July 8, 2022.