Just one day after it was revealed that Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave) was in talks for a major (yet unspecified) supporting role in Black Panther, we have word that the hotly-anticipated Marvel Studios production is preparing to add another high-profile performer to the cast.

According to Borys Kit at the Hollywood Reporter’s Heat Vision blog, Panther director Ryan Coogler will be reuniting with his Fruitvale Station/Creed star Michael B. Jordan for the Marvel superhero adventure that has been in development for several years now and was announced as part of the studio’s Phase Three release slate back in October 2014.

Chadwick Boseman signed on to play the title character shortly before the project was announced, and debuted the role of the Wakandan king and costumed protector of his people on the big screen to great acclaim in the recently released blockbuster smash Captain America: Civil War.

Coogler was confirmed as the director of Black Panther back in January and will be rewriting the script previously penned by Joe Robert Cole.

Jordan’s role has yet to be revealed, but a source mentioned in the THR story suggests that he could be playing the villain of the film. He may possibly have some company in that department as Andy Serkis has been rumored to be reprising his Avengers: Age of Ultron character Ulysses Klaue, an arms merchant operating out of Wakanda who became the diabolical Klaw and wielded a sonic weapon powered by vibranium (the rarest metal in the Marvel Universe and one that can only be found in Wakanda) in the pages of many classic Marvel Comics titles.

Given the great working relationship he developed with Jordan on their two previous films, it’s no surprise that Coogler would cast the rising young movie star in his biggest feature project to date. Obviously this wouldn’t be the first time Jordan had a crucial role in a Marvel-inspired superhero adventure; he played Johnny Storm, a.k.a. the Human Torch, in last year’s Fantastic Four, the critically-reviled reboot of the Fox franchise that flopped at the box office.

After his smashing introduction in Civil War was greeted with unanimous accolades, the future looks pretty bright for Black Panther’s long-awaited solo feature. The project has a first-rate filmmaker behind the camera in Ryan Coogler and his cast so far is shaping up to be one of Marvel Studios’ finest to date. I simply cannot wait for this one.

Black Panther will open in theaters on February 16, 2018.

[Source: THR]