Michaela Coel is joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe and fans think they know who she’ll play

It’s an exciting day for both Marvel and I May Destroy You fans as the two worlds have come together with the news that Michaela Coel will join the lineup for the upcoming Black Panther movie. Signing on to be involved in the new project, very few details have been revealed about what her role in the new film might entail… but either way, we’re intrigued. 

According to Variety, “character details are locked up”  as per usual, but insiders did confirm that Coel joined director Ryan Cooler over at Atlanta’s Pinewood Studios where production began on the movie last month. 

As avid Michaela Coel stans will know, this isn’t the actress’s first foray into a major Disney-owned production either as she previously had a minor role as an unnamed resistance monitor in Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Exploding onto the scene with her critically acclaimed series I May Destroy You just last summer, she’s enjoyed a steady climb to fame ever since. Already with Star Wars portrayal under her belt, the actress has also starred in the movie Been So Long along with the popular Netflix shows Black Mirror and her own break-out show, Chewing Gum.

The next few months are set to be very busy for Coel who also has a new project with the BBC in the works. One of six new dramas commissioned by the channel, other big names bringing their work to the small screen includes the likes of Dolly Alderton, Queenie author Candice Carthy-Williams and Cash Carraway. 

Now set to enter the Marvel world for the first time, fans have been trying to process the exciting news with many surmising that Coel could potentially have been enlisted to play the character of Storm – one of the first X-Men to enter the Marvel Cinematic Universe (or Michaela Coel Universe as we propose it now be called). 

Reports suggest that the new Black Panther movie will see Wakanda go to war with the underwater kingdom of Atlantis… which would tie in with the theory that Coel will take on the role of weather goddess Storm. A major ally of Wakanda in the comics, Storm even married King T’Challa (as portrayed by Chadwick Boseman). 

The first movie in the franchise to go ahead following Boseman’s death, Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige told Variety that “it’s clearly very emotional” without him. “But everyone is also very excited to bring the world of Wakanda back to the public and back to the fans. We’re going to do it in a way that would make Chad proud.”

While additional cast members have not yet been announced, it’s expected that Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright, Daniel Kaluuya, Winston Duke, Lupita Nyong’o, Florence Kasumba and Angela Bassett will all reprise their roles from the original film.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is set for release in July 2022.