Rumors about the MCU have been rampant lately. Some of them incredibly exciting while some unusually baffling like this one. According to UK tabloid Metro, Donald Glover is in informal talks with director Ryan Coogler to play a possible villain in the Black Panther sequel. And get this, in addition to Childish Gambino Michael B. Jordan may be entering the fold once more as Killmonger. The Metro is the second UK tabloid site to ‘report’ major MCU casting news this week. The first was The Sun, who reported that Jake Gyllenhaal had entered talks to play Mysterio in the *Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel.
Ryan Coogler is currently mapping out Black Panther’s sequel and has written in a number of new characters that movie-goers will be introduced to when it premieres. One of those characters, if he gets his wish, will be played by Childish Gambino. Nothing is set in stone but “informal talks” [are happening] between Ryan, Gambino and reps from Marvel and Disney to see if they can make it happen. They’re still yet to decide if Michael B Jordan will return in some capacity but if he doesn’t it’s likely Gambino may play some kind of villain.
Those who are keen on characters know that Donald Glover is already playing a name character in the MCU; Aaron Davis aka the Prowler, the uncle of eventual Spider-Man Miles Morales, who we last saw in Spider-Man: Homecoming. For Marvel to double down on Glover in light of his recent rise to stardom feels like purely stunt casting. Michael B. Jordan‘s potential return to the franchise is just as confusing. Killmonger was an absolute beast and was undeniably given one of the best villain send-offs in blockbuster history. To bring him into the fold once more for a cameo’s sake would only tarnish the poignancy of his impact in the MCU.
With that being said, there are ways around the confusion. For Glover, they could either retcon Aaron Davis into a character of Wakandan descent, prep his role up for something more significant or say ‘screw it’ and give him a totally new role. The idea of Donald Glover playing the maniacally zealous doctor Achebe sounds exciting as hell. For Jordan, they could add meaning to a Killmonger cameo by making the character appear in T’Challa’s visions. A ghost to haunt T’Challa for Wakanda’s errors. If they’re feeling extra comic-booky, they could bring back Killmonger as an actual character following the inevitable time-travel fiascos of Avengers 4.
Source: Metro
