It’s been six years since the first Black Panther film was released (Picture: Dave J Hogan/Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)

Hollywood star Danai Gurira has sparked hope that one of her Black Panther co-stars – Daniel Kaluuya – could make a return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, six years after his last appearance.

For more than a decade, Danai has made a name for herself as a powerhouse action talent, storming onto TV screens as the katana-wielding Michonne Hawthorne in The Walking Dead in 2012.

Her most recent appearance as the character came in the spin-off show The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live airing on Sky Atlantic and NOW in the UK, which saw her reunite with Rick Grimes actor Andrew Lincoln this year.

In addition to the post-apocalyptic drama, the 46-year-old is also a fan-favourite in the MCU, having made her debut as Dora Milaje warrior Okoye in Black Panther opposite the late Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa, the King of Wakanda.

Aside from TV and film, she’s also a prolific playwright, receiving a Tony Award nomination for Best Play for her Broadway production Eclipsed, which premiered in 2009.

During a recent conversation with Metro.co.uk, Danai opened up about her career, including her past and future as Okoye, a role she reprised in the 2022 Black Panther sequel Wakanda Forever.

Okoye (left) was introduced as the formidable general of the Dora Milaje (Picture: Walt Disney/Marvel)

Danai has since played the role multiple times, including in Avengers: Infinity War, Endgame and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Picture: AP/Marvel Studios/Disney)

The actress recently returned to The Walking Dead franchise in the spin-off series The Ones Who Live (Picture: Gene Page/AMC)

The actress remained coy of the speculation of a Dora Milaje or Okoye spin-off series, answering when asked about the rumours: ‘I cannot speak on that either. I truly cannot. Cannot! These franchises, part of the journey is to not share I guess. Let the audiences not know, leave suspense. They take you to an orientation of “do not spoil”!’

In Wakanda Forever, Okoye is stripped of her title as the general of the Dora Milaje, resulting in her taking up a new mantle as a Midnight Angel, complete with a brand new costume.

Speaking of her character’s emotional journey, Danai shared: ‘As a writer when I heard about it, I thought it was a great thing to tailspin a character like that, because clearly that’s what she was. She literally was Dora. So to take that away from her, it’s like what does she become?

‘I think there’s a lot to unpack thereI think there’s a lot left to unpack in terms of what is Okoye’s next act and is she really even ready to take it?’

One character who was missing from Wakanda Forever was W’Kabi (Daniel), Okoye’s husband who was imprisoned following the events of the first Black Panther film, when he sided with Killmonger (Michael B Jordan) against his King, T’Challa.

Daniel made his only appearance as W’Kabi in the first Black Panther movie (Picture: Walt Disney/Marvel)

The film saw him turn on King T’Challa, played by the late Chadwick Boseman (Picture: Marvel Studios/Film Frame)

So could Daniel end up making a return to the MCU in the near future?

‘I think it’s very possible,’ Danai replied to us, but she admitted she isn’t sure if or when it’ll happen.

‘I have no idea, I’m just speculating like you, but I think it’s very possible that we’ll see more of W’Kabi. I can’t imagine why we wouldn’t. He’s a fantastic character. Daniel Kaluuya is unbelievable. So I think there’s no reason why we wouldn’t see more of him and of course, that interaction is at the core of it all. I think that’d be interesting. But I have no dets on that.’

Danai shared how ‘difficult’ it was to return for a Black Panther sequel following the devastating death of Chadwick, who died in 2020 aged 43 after being diagnosed with colon cancer.

‘I felt that Ryan [Coogler] did an incredible job in terms of the most important mission that we had, which was to honour Chadwick and I think that to me, was the absolute success of that film was how beautifully it did that,’ she said.

The world was left in shock following Chadwick Boseman’s death (Picture: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for Disney)

Danai explained how those who worked on the sequel Wakanda Forever supported each other following their loss (Picture: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)

‘It was obviously a very difficult process for us to return without him, and also, it was also a time where we were able to cleave to each other because we hadn’t been able to really before since the loss, since his passing.

‘So we were able to be there for each other, but stepping into telling the story again without him, it was not an easy process. We really had to lean in on each other like never before.

‘Even the new people who came in, it’s like they really understood what we were dealing with. So they were beautiful participants in that journey with us. It deeply made us more of a family unit to try and get through this without him and for him.’

Before making her mark on Marvel, Danai became a global superstar as Michonne in The Walking Dead, a role she recently came back to in the spin-off sequel series The Ones Who Live, with Andrew as her great love Rick.

Danai outlined how ‘great’, and ‘organic’ it felt to come back to the franchise with her co-star, saying that it ‘felt like it was meant to happen, like we were meant to get the story fully told’.

Originally Michonne and Rick’s reunion was supposed to happen in a movie, before it was switched to a TV series (Picture: © 2024 AMC Film Holdings LLC. All Rights Reserved.)

Fans were delighted to see the on-screen couple back together (Picture: AMC)

As fans of the original series will remember, Rick goes missing and is presumed dead, but then Michonne goes on a quest to find him after finding evidence that he might still be alive.

‘We’d left the audience with cliffhangers on how both of us left the series. The world needed to know what happened to Rick Grimes and the world needs to know if Michonne finds him,’ she added.

‘So it felt like the right thing to do to bring them back to complete the story that we proposed that we would complete.’

In addition to being the lead stars of the show, Danai and Andrew, 50, were also co-creators and executive producers on the drama this time around.

‘You get to the point where you’ve been in a show for so long, as long as we were in The Walking Dead, that you are kind of in those roles anyway, but you don’t have the title,’ Danai said of the work they both did off-screen to bring The Ones Who Live to life.

Could Rick and Michonne be back again in future? We hope so (Picture: AMC)

‘So it just felt very, once again, the word is organic that we were in the roles that were just the right thing for us to do in terms of how much we knew the world, how much we knew the characters, how much we knew what was right for the characters, how much we know the fandom. It made sense that was the next step that we had to take.’

So now that fans know what happened to Michonne and Rick and whether they were reunited, will they ever get to see this power couple on screen again, whether on TV or in a film?

‘I cannot say a thing. I cannot say a thing. I cannot,’ Danai stated, before quipping: ‘Walking Dead the Musical… what do you think on Broadway? The West End?’

Given Danai’s repertoire in the theatre, we can’t see why not.

The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live is available to watch on Sky Atlantic and NOW.