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SYFY WIRE Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Janelle Monáe wants to play the X-Men's Storm in Black Panther 2

By Josh Weiss
Janelle Monae Storm

With Disney now in possession of the X-Men, Marvel's famous mutants can now start migrating over to the MCU. Kevin Feige hasn't announced any official plans to incorporate them into the growing mythos just yet, but Janelle Monáe (Hidden Figures) is hoping for a Storm appearance in Black Panther 2. A representative for the actress has confirmed to SYFY WIRE that she did broach the subject of playing Storm with members of the cast when the first movie was shooting in Atlanta.

"I definitely have thrown it out there," Monae recently told Empire. "One of my dreams has always been to play Storm. I don’t know if she comes in Black Panther, but it would be a dream to have her in it. I don’t know where they are with that. A lot of women have played Storm and they’ve done an exceptional job, and I would love to be in that line of artists and get to do Storm justice."

Janelle Monae

Storm is cinematically famous for fighting alongside Wolverine and Charles Xavier, but her comic book counterpart has longstanding ties with King T'Challa, whom she dated and married. The weather-controlling character was previously played by Halle Berry and Alexandra Shipp in the live-action X-Men films. Iona Morris and Alison Sealy-Smith voiced her in the animated series.

Ryan Coogler is returning to write and direct the Black Panther sequel, which is scheduled to make its theatrical debut on May 6, 2022. No plot details have been released thus far. Chadwick Boseman (T'Challa) and Martin Freeman (Everett K. Ross) are the only confirmed cast members at this point.

Monáe's next film appearance is in Antebellum from directors Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz. Lionsgate is still hoping to release the time-bending horror project in theaters Friday, Aug. 21.