Michael B. Jordan has admitted he didn’t need to read the script to agree to the ‘Black Panther’ sequel.
Michael B. Jordan signed up for ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ without having read the “whole script”.
The 38-year-old actor starred as Erik Killmonger in 2018’s ‘Black Panther’ and reprised the role in the 2022 sequel to the Marvel blockbuster.
He has since admitted he did so without having any idea about the plot, as director Ryan Coogler kept it “close to his vest”.
Jordan also admitted it was “extremely tough” returning to the franchise after the death of lead star Chadwick Boseman (Black Panther/T’Challa) – who tragically died from colon cancer at the age of 43 in 2020.
He told GQ: “Coming back to do [Black] Panther 2 after the tragedy of losing Chadwick [Boseman] was an extremely tough one.
“I was in pre-production for Creed 3, so I was right getting ready to go direct. At the time, I didn’t even read the whole script, so I didn’t know what the whole movie was about.”
The ‘Just Mercy’ star was “just as excited” as everyone else to see how the story would pan out.
He added: “[Ryan] Coog[ler], yeah, he’s your own brother. He ain’t even let me read the script, you know? It was crazy. Nah, but he kept that pretty, pretty close to the vest for a lot of different reasons. So I was just as excited as everybody else. To watch the movie at the end, to kind of see what he did with the whole thing, to be perfectly honest.”
Meanwhile, Denzel Washington recently let slip that he was joining the cast of the third ‘Black Panther’ movie.
However, Marvel producer Nate Moore has since insisted it’s “too early to say” whether he’ll land a role.
Talking to Screen Rant about Washington’s potential casting in the flick, Moore said: “If that manifests, which we’re gonna try, I think it will probably be somebody from canon. Who that is, is early days.
“We honestly haven’t had really substantive creative conversations with Ryan, mostly because he’s finishing his film ‘Sinners’, which is gonna come out this year and is gonna be great.
“So again, it’s too early to say, but obviously if an actor of the caliber of Denzel Washington wants in, we’re gonna figure out a way to make that happen.”
Washington had spilled his potential involvement in the next ‘Black Panther’ film when he was laying out what his final projects would be before he retired from Hollywood.
He told Australia’s ‘Today’ show: “At this point in my career, I’m only interested in working with the best, I don’t know how many more films I will make, probably not that many. I want to do things that I haven’t done.”
Sharing the roles he had lined up before he sunsetted his acting career, ‘The Equalizer’ star teased: “I played Othello at 22, I’m now going to play it at 70. After that, I’m playing Hannibal. After that, I’ve been talking with Steve McQueen about a film.
“After that, Ryan Coogler is writing a part for me in the next ‘Black Panther’. After that, I’m gonna do the film Othello. After that I’m gonna do King Lear. After that, I’m gonna retire.”
After spilling Coogler had been penning him a character in the third ‘Black Panther’ film, Washington said he had called the ‘Creed’ director to apologise to him.
During an appearance on Variety’s ‘Awards Circuit Podcast’, he said: “Ryan’s a genius. I called him and apologised for talking about the movie, and right there sitting with him was his beautiful wife.
“He’s still Ryan, humble and full of ideas. Whatever he writes, I’ll read.”
Michael B. Jordan reprised his Black Panther role for the sequel without having read the script
