Marvel Studios Exec Clears up Canon Status of ‘Eyes of Wakanda’

Back in 2021, it was confirmed that Ryan Coogler was working on a TV series set in Wakanda that would be released on Disney+, and a few months later it was confirmed that Danai Gurira would return to reprise her role as Okoye in the project. Nothing was heard about the project for more than a year when Variety reported that Coogler was working on multiple Wakanda-focused series for Disney+, some to include already existing Wakandan characters and some to introduce completely new ones.

Then fast forward a year later, in 2023 relatively recently, ‘Eyes of Wakanda’ has been announced. Little is known about it except that it will be set in the past and will follow Wakanda Warriors as they travel far and wide to recover Wakandan artifacts. Despite the animated show being confirmed only a few months ago, it arrives at Disney+ in 2024 as a part of Phase 5.

Now in a recent interview with Men’s Health, Head of Animation for Marvel Studios Brad Winderbaum cleared up the canonicity status of the show – and we can confirm that ‘Eyes of Wakanda’ will be canon to the MCU.

We’re exploring so many amazing avenues on the animated side. Eyes of Wakanda, more than any other show, fits right into our sacred MCU timeline continuity. [Black Panther director Ryan Coogler] is a producer on it, Todd Harris is one of our long-time storyboard artists who directs it. It’s about Wakandan history and mythology, and it’s really cool. It looks amazing. And it feels like, ‘Okay I’m getting an animated look into the MCU.’

This isn’t as surprising considering that MCU is slowly and surely shifting to animated projects as there are several projects currently in development or rumored to be in development. The recent release of ‘X-Men ’97’ which scored a staggering 100% on Rotten Tomatoes is proof that Marvel Studios can deliver a perfect blend of action and storytelling. Not all projects are part of the MCU, some will be a part of the larger Marvel Animated Multiverse, but it’s good to get a confirmation that when we’re speaking about the events that will transpire in ‘Eyes of Wakanda’ we will talk about the events that directly influenced MCU canon.

‘Eyes of Wakanda’ is not the only Wakandan-centric project that we can expect, as this show is separate from the live-action project currently in development.

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