Black Panther movie update: Lupita Nyong'o may play love interest of Marvel superhero

Lupita Nyong'o will be entering the Marvel universe as the love interest of Black Panther in a stand-alone movie, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Negotiations are currently on but if agreed upon, the actress, who won an Oscar for her role in 12 Years A Slave will star opposite Chadwick Boseman, who plays the superhero.

Creed writer/director Ryan Coogler has been brought in for the project and will also be writing the script. Back in January when Marvel confirmed him for the film, Coogler told HeyUGuys: "I'm excited. I grew very into pop culture, very into comic books, so it's something that is just as personal to me as the last couple of films I was able to make. I feel really fortunate to be able to work on something I'm this passionate about again."

Black Panther, whose real name is T'Challa, is the warrior king of Wakanda, a fictional African nation that is rich in an unbreakable alloy called vibranium. The character is Marvel's first black super hero, first appearing in Fantastic Four #52 in 1966. He made his first appearance in Marvel's cinematic world in Captain America: Civil War.

It's still early days for the project and as of now, it hasn't been revealed which character Nong'o will be playing. Most bets are on Monica Lynne, a singer who was T'Challa's longest love interest and to whom he promised his eternal devotion.

Production is slotted to begin in 2017 and 2 February 2018 has already been ear-marked for its release.

Nyong'o recently lent her voice to the mother wolf Raksha in The Jungle Book and acted in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, in which she played alien Maz Kanata.