After Black Panther's release in February 2018, Feige said there were "many stories to tell" about the character, and that he wanted Coogler to return for any potential sequel.[324] Coogler said he wanted to see how Boseman's T'Challa would grow as a king in future films, since his reign only began recently in the MCU, while in the comics, he had been king since childhood.[325] In March 2018, Feige said there was "nothing specific to reveal" about a sequel, but there "absolutely" were "ideas and a pretty solid direction on where we want to head with the second one".[326] By October 2018, Coogler had signed to write and direct a sequel to Black Panther,[327] saying the next month that while he was feeling pressure in developing the sequel due to the first film's success, he would "focus on trying to make something that has some type of meaning" for the film.[328] In mid-2019, Feige confirmed that work on the script had begun,[329] and that it was in development for release on May 6, 2022.[330][331] Wright, Gurira, and Freeman are set to reprise their roles.[332][333][334] Boseman died from colon cancer in August 2020, surprising Coogler, Feige, and other executives at Marvel Studios who had been unaware of Boseman's illness.[335][336] In November 2020, Nyong'o, Duke, and Bassett were confirmed to be reprising their roles in the sequel, Tenoch Huerta was in talks to appear as an antagonist, and Shuri was said to have a more prominent role. At that time, filming was expected to begin in July 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia.[337] Feige said in December 2020 that the role of T'Challa would not be recast out of respect for Boseman's legacy, but plans for the sequel would continue with a new release date of July 8, 2022.[338]