'Black Panther' movie release date and news: Lead actor says previous Black Panthers might appear in new film

Black Panther/T'Çhalla (Chadwick Boseman) was introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) in "Captain America: Civil War." Though a lot of his character was showcased in the film, his origins still remain a mystery. With his own solo venture in the works, Boseman takes time to talk about the movie and the possible appearance of the previous Black Panthers in the MCU lore.

In an interview with Yahoo Movies, Boseman talked about how the "Black Panther" film will delve into the background of his character. He said, "There is definitely more of his origin in 'Black Panther'. You're going to learn about Wakanda, its culture, its traditions, the past. You can go through all the comic books and know that there's more Panthers that have existed in the past - that's origin."

In "Civil War," T'Challa took on the Black Panther mantle after his father, T'Chaka (John Kani) was killed during an explosion at the United Nations caused by Helmut Zemo (Daniel Bruhl). The death of T'Chaka would lead his son to assume the role of King of Wakanda and the Black Panther, a role that T'Chaka himself assumed in his youth.

Some speculated that an appearance from any previous Black Panthers in this movie would be a flashback and that the movie would choose to bring in an actor younger than John Kani to play T'Chaka in his prime.

The movie will be helmed by "Creed" director Ryan Coogler, and interestingly enough, the film's villain will be played by Michael B. Jordan, who was the lead star of "Creed." He will be playing the role of Erik Killmonger/N'Jadaka. In the comics, N'Jadaka was an exile of Wakanda and he has close ties with Andy Serkis' character from "Age of Ultron," Ulysses Klaue. If the movie will follow the comics, N'Jadaka will try to overthrow T'Challa from his throne and attempt to claim the rule of Wakanda for himself.

"Black Panther" is set to come out in the year 2018.