Marvel just cancelled a woman of color’s Disney+ show, and I’m not sure how I feel
Remember how a few years ago, Marvel Studios announced a TV show starring Danai Gurira’s Okoye, a fan favorite from Black Panther? Yeah, unfortunately, it’s no longer happening.
Okoye was first announced back in 2021. The Hollywood Reporter confirmed this news in an article about high-powered lawyers and the deals they’d recently made that it would be “an origin spinoff series for Disney+” and I thought that was a great idea. There were so many stories to be told in and about Wakanda. Okoye was honestly one of the most interesting characters in the Black Panther franchise. I was so curious. What new stories would be told as we learned more about Okoye? Would they be able to convince now-Oscar winner Daniel Kaluuya to return as W’Kabi, so we could see more of his story, too? What cool fight scenes would be coming to the small screen? Those were just some of the questions I had!
Alas, those questions would never be answered. Marvel Head of Television Brad Winderbaum said as much in an interview to promote Daredevil: Born Again. “I think fans of Okoye are going to be excited to see her come back, but I don’t think it’s going to be in a television show. I can’t say where and when, but I think there’s a lot to look forward to,” he said.
Marvel’s Black characters should be able to have their own movies and TV shows
So… well, let’s unpack that. Maybe in a way it’s not surprising that the Okoye show is no more. Disney have a habit of announcing new shows, and sometimes movies, only for them to come to nothing. Think of what happened with Armor Wars, after all. This was meant to be a showcase for Don Cheadle’s War Machine, announced all the way back in 2011. The last anyone heard from it was 2022, when it was announced it would be retooled from a TV show into a movie. Currently it’s simply missing in action.
Then there’s Blade. Blade has been stuck in development hell for what feels like forever now. Mahershala Ali was cast in the titular role, and for a while, it seemed like things were moving smoothly. Unfortunately, the Blade release date was pushed further and further back until it stopped being a release date at all.
You’ll notice that both those projects and Okoye were about prominent Black Marvel characters, and I have to admit, it’s not really a good look for Marvel that projects about Black characters keep getting cancelled. I don’t want Disney+ to churn out shows about fan favorite characters just for the sake of it but I really feel like an Okoye show could have been something special with the right writers and cast. You can’t go wrong with Danai Gurira, after all. And yet… nothing.
At least Winderbaum said that “there’s a lot to look forward to” for Okoye fans, but he didn’t give much detail beyond that. Is she going to be in Doomsday? Secret Wars? Presumably she will at least be in Black Panther 3, but that doesn’t have a release date yet. Fans may have a long wait before they see Okoye in the MCU again.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
