‘Black Panther’: Daniel Kaluuya Not Returning for ‘Wakanda Forever’

Oscar-winner Daniel Kaluuya did not reprise his role of W’Kabi in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the actor confirmed. Kaluuya told Rotten Tomatoes on Wednesday he was unable to join the Marvel movie because of scheduling conflicts with his latest film, Nope. In the 2018 Black Panther movie, Kaluuya played T’Challa’s best friend, sharing scenes with the late Chadwick Boseman.

Wakanda Forever is the sequel to Black Panther, with director Ryan Coogler returning. Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, and Angela Bassett are all reprising their roles. Dominique Thorne will be introduced as Riri Williams/Ironheart. Wakanda Forever is scheduled to open on Nov. 11.

BREAKING NEWS: Fresh from my NOPE interview with Daniel Kaluuya he did not reprise his role in #BlackPanther2 due to his schedule conflicts w/ #NOPE!

It's official he's not in #BlackPantherWakandaForever

— 🍅Jacqueline🍅 (@THATJacqueline) July 13, 2022

The movie was in production at the same time as Nope, which reunites Kaluuya with his Get Out director, Jordan Peele. Sources close to Wakanda Forever told Variety that Kaluuya already committed to making Nope before Wakanda Forever began filming.

Nope opens on July 22 and also stars Keke Palmer and Steven Yeun. Kaluuya and Palmer play OJ and Emerald, siblings whose ranch suddenly experiences strange things. Random objects start falling from the sky, and the two try to capture evidence of UFOs. They are joined by tech salesman Angel Torres (Brandon Perea) and documentarian Antlers Holst (Michael Wincott). Peele wrote, directed, and co-produced the Univeral release.

Kaluuya earned his first Oscar nomination for starring in Get Out and won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 2021 for Judas and the Black Messiah. In an interview with Peele for Essense, Kaluuya said he almost quit acting before Peele cast him in Get Out. 

“I’ve never told you this, but when you reached out to me and we had that Skype, I was really disillusioned with acting. I had stopped acting for like a year and a half,” Kaluuya said. “I checked out, because I was just like, this isn’t working. I wasn’t getting roles, because [of] racism and all this kind of stuff-so you reaching out was like, Okay, I’m not crazy. It’s proper. It’s going to be all right.”

Get Out was Kaluuya’s breakout Hollywood role, but he had been working in movies and television shows since 2006. One of his best-known pre-Get Out roles came in the 2011 Black Mirror episode “Fifteen Million Merits.” His other credits include Kick-Ass 2, Sicario, Johnny English Reborn, Skins, Doctor Who, and Widows. His next project is The Upper World, a Netflix sci-fi thriller based on the debut novel by Femi Fadugba.