Fresh off his performance as the Machiavellian Macrinus in Gladiator II, Denzel Washington may be preparing to play another agent of chaos. In November, Washington casually revealed that writer/director Ryan Coogler had created a role for him in the as-yet-undated third film in the Black Panther franchise. Following Washington’s reveal, Marvel Studios One Above All, Kevin Feige, officially announced the film was in development; however, little information about the threequel has been available…until now.
According to social media scooper My Time To Shine Hello, Washington will be portraying the disruptive and devious Achebe in Black Panther 3.
Achebe’s arrival in Wakanda has been anticipated for some time and while he would have made a fine antagonist in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the events of the sequel may have perfectly primed a path for the villain to wreak havoc.
Between 1998 and 2003, Christopher Priest wrote 60 issues of Black Panther for Marvel Comics. Priest’s run began with T’Challa in an interesting pinch: a girl who was a part of T’Challa’s Tomorrow Fund, an organization he founded in the United States, has been found murdered. Meanwhile, refugees flock to Wakanda’s border, led by the enigmatic Reverend Doctor Michael Ibn al-hajj Achebe. In T’Challa’s absence, Achebe makes his move to overtake Wakanda.
By introducing the Wakandan outreach center in 2018’s Black Panther, Coogler created the MCU’s equivalent of the Tomorrow Fund. Black Panther 3 could open with a scenario similar to Priest’s run that would require Shuri to leave Wakanda to investigate, leaving an opening for Achebe. Her absence, paired with the devastation from Namor’s attack, would provide the perfect scenario to allow Achebe to further destabilize Wakanda and then attempt to assume control.
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