We recently learned that Daniel Kaluuya will not reprise the role of W'Kabi in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The actor put it down to scheduling issues caused by his starring in Jordan Peele's Nope, saying it was "what’s best for the story [and] what’s best for the film."
T'Challa's best friend and Okoye's husband (that was confirmed by a deleted scene), W'Kabi betrayed Wakanda when he decided to ally himself with the invading Erik Killmonger.
While he ultimately surrendered, the warrior's final fate was left unclear, but will the sequel address it in any way? Only briefly by the sound of it, but director Ryan Coogler shared some details during an interview with Cinema Blend, confirming W'Kabi's current MCU status.
"Yeah, he’s basically banished, but still in Wakanda’s borders," the filmmaker said. "Yeah, does that make sense? So, there’s one line that refers to him still being alive."
Okoye actress Danai Gurira was also asked what thought she gave to W'Kabi, noting that, "I can’t go into too many details. You would have to ask my director about that whole thing. But we definitely did [discuss it]. There was stuff that we didn’t end up doing but we definitely did."
Whether there's more story to tell with W'Kabi is hard to say, and it's easy enough to understand why bringing him back wasn't necessarily a huge priority for the Black Panther sequel. However, if that rumoured Okoye TV series on Disney+ becomes a reality, then there's a very good chance we'll see the Dora Milaje leader deal with the fallout of what her husband did.
Marvel Studios has introduced a lot of new characters in Phase 4, so we hope there will be time to pick up with more familiar faces from the past down the line. For now, though, it looks like W'Kabi has been sidelined.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever arrives in theaters on November 11.