Black Panther Star Joins Avengers: Secret Wars, Igniting Major MCU Speculation
Wakanda enters the multiverse as a Black Panther star joins Marvel’s Avengers: Secret Wars, the Joe and Anthony Russo-directed sequel to Avengers: Doomsday that’s set to begin filming next year.
Here we go: Shuri is suiting up again. Letitia Wright says she is back for Avengers: Secret Wars, and yes, that means the Black Panther brain trust is in the mix for the MCU's next mega-event.
Shuri is back for Secret Wars
In a new chat with ScreenRant, Wright didn’t dance around it. She says she’s locked for Secret Wars, and her other Avengers movie is already in the can.
'That's what I have to film next, Secret Wars. But Doomsday, we finished that, and that was very great.'
Marvel still hasn’t officially announced a Secret Wars cast, but Wright just did the heavy lifting on her end. Given the scale of this thing, it was never going to stay buttoned up for long anyway.
What is filming when?
Per the current plan, Avengers: Secret Wars is expected to start filming next year under Joe and Anthony Russo (yep, the Russos are back). Secret Wars is positioned as a direct sequel to Avengers: Doomsday, which wrapped for Wright and hits theaters first. The wrinkle: Secret Wars will roll cameras before Doomsday even opens, which makes any attempt to keep the sequel’s roster quiet... optimistic.
Who is in Avengers: Doomsday?
Wright is set to appear in Doomsday alongside what can only be described as a multiverse-sized roster. If this holds, it’s a wild lineup, including one very eyebrow-raising bit of casting that you will absolutely clock:
- Letitia Wright as Shuri/Black Panther
- Chris Hemsworth as Thor
- Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman
- Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Captain America
- Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier
- Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man
- Wyatt Russell as John Walker/U.S. Agent
- Tenoch Huerta Mejía as Namor
- Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/The Thing
- Simu Liu as Shang-Chi
- Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova
- Kelsey Grammer as Hank McCoy/Beast
- Lewis Pullman as Bob Reynolds/Sentry
- Danny Ramirez as Joaquin Torres/Falcon
- Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/Human Torch
- David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian
- Winston Duke as M'Baku
- Hannah John-Kamen as Ava Starr/Ghost
- Tom Hiddleston as Loki
- Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier/Professor X
- Ian McKellen as Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto
- Alan Cumming as Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler
- Rebecca Romijn as Raven Darkhölme/Mystique
- James Marsden as Scott Summers/Cyclops
- Channing Tatum as Remy LeBeau/Gambit
- Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic
- Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom
What Marvel is (not) saying
Marvel hasn’t unveiled the Secret Wars cast list yet. Maybe they wait until Doomsday is out to dodge spoilers. Maybe they don’t, because with Secret Wars filming before Doomsday hits theaters, there’s a good chance the cats escape the bag anyway.
Dates to circle
Avengers: Doomsday opens December 18, 2026. Avengers: Secret Wars follows one year later on December 17, 2027.
Credit where it started
Wright’s comments came via ScreenRant. The report was first written up by Brandon Schreur at SuperHeroHype and later carried by ComingSoon.