Marvel Studios appeared to be making a concerted effort to develop shorter movies after Eternals failed to make the desired impact at the box office, with both Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Thor: Love and Thunder coming in at just under 2 hours.
This led to rumors that Kevin Feige had actually introduced a mandate that no MCU big-screen release should exceed a 2-hour run-time, but whether there was any truth to the report or not, it seems Black Panther director Ryan Coogler was given all the freedom he needed to allow his sequel to play out as the story dictated.
Yesterday, a theater listing for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever noted a run-time of 2 hours, 41 minutes. While these early listings can often prove to be inaccurate, Disney has now confirmed that the upcoming sequel will indeed be the second longest MCU film after Avengers: Endgame.
Some have baulked at the butt-numbing run-time, but Wakanda Forever has a lot to address, especially following the passing of Chadwick Boseman. The late actor's character, T'Challa, will also meet his maker (most likely off-screen) in the movie, and the film will introduce an entire civilization in the form of Namor's Atlanteans Talocanians.
Tickets for Black Panther 2 are expected to go on sale this coming Monday, so there's a decent chance a new trailer is imminent.
In Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Shuri (Letitia Wright), M’Baku (Winston Duke), Okoye (Danai Gurira), and the Dora Milaje (including Florence Kasumba), fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T’Challa’s death. As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with the help of War Dog Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) and Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) and forge a new path for the kingdom of Wakanda. Introducing Tenoch Huerta as Namor, king of a hidden undersea nation, the film also stars Dominique Thorne, Michaela Coel, Mabel Cadena, and Alex Livanalli.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever hits theaters on November 11.