This story contains mild spoilers for Black Panther. Read at your own discretion.
Now that practically everyone has had a fair chance to experience Black Panther in all its cinematic glory, fans of the film are already scrambling for some hints at a sequel. Angela Bassett, who portrays Queen Ramonda in the film, recently shared some of her own fan theories for what we could expect from a second Black Panther installment while on the American Black Film Festival Honors red carpet.
When asked by The Root whether there will be a sequel, Bassett replied, "I didn't die," with a hearty laugh, following with, "Absolutely have to. The queen lives." There hasn't been any official confirmation yet, but Marvel Studios President Keith Feige told Variety that, "Panther has been around for more than half a century in the comic books and there are many, many stories to tell." Bassett definitely seems to agree that the story is far from over. "We have no more herb left. Shuri, Shuri will figure it out. My daughter will figure it out," she said (Erik Killmonger burns all the herbs, which give the Black Panther his supersenses).
The film's influence is not lost on Bassett, though she admits the scope of the film's success took her by surprise. "I don't think we thought we would change history," she said. "We thought it would be special, we thought folk would see it, it would have a big audience, it would have a wide appeal. But to this degree and with this urgency and with this speed, and with all this love and good feeling emanating from it, we are humbled." Here's hoping that Bassett's dreams of seeing more of T'Challa, Shuri, Okoye and the rest of the Black Panther universe come true sooner than later—and judging by the reception so far, it looks like there's a pretty good shot.
