Angela Bassett joins Marvel's Black Panther as T'Challa's mother

Angela Bassett has joined the cast of Marvel Studios' upcoming standalone movie, Black Panther. The American Horror Story: Roanoke star is set to play Ramonda, the mother of titular hero T'Challa on screen, opposite Lupita Nyong'o, Michael B. Jordan, Forest Whitaker and lead Chadwick Boseman.

Having made his debut as the character in Captain America: Civil War earlier this year, Boseman will take centre stage this time round as the Wakandan comic book hero. Details about the plot remain relatively unknown, however, it's been reported that the film is set to explore the struggles of juggling the responsibilities of his alter-ego and the former prince's ascension to the throne after his father, King T'Chaka, was killed.

Even if the story is under wraps, it seems safe to assume that Black Panther will find himself up against supervillains Erik Killmonger and Man-Ape at some point during the movie – with Jordan and Person Of Interest actor Winston Duke listed as those characters respectively on IMDb.

Directed by Ryan Coogler (Creed), the instalment will also star Martin Freeman, reprising his role as Joint Counter Terrorist Centre employee Everett K Ross and Florence Kasumba, once again appearing as Ayo. Sicario's Daniel Kaluuya will also appear as security personnel W'Kabi while The Walking Dead's Danai Gurira will play Okoye, one of T'Challa's bodyguards.

There have also been reports that Andy Serkis will return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as baddie Ulysses Klaue, a corrupt, black-market arms dealer and gangster, who is a former acquaintance of Tony Stark.

Speaking about the film's casting in an Empire magazine podcast previously, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige stated:"[Black Panther's] will be among the best ensembles we've ever had and 90 percent of the cast is either African or African-American."

Working with a script from The People vs OJ Simpson: American Crime Story writer Joe Robert Cole, production on the film is expected to begin in 2017 ahead of a UK release date of 6 July 2018. Currently, the movie is aiming to reach the US much earlier on 16 February.

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