“Black Panther became a cultural phenomenon that has broken boundaries and created a movement, gracing the cover of Time magazine,” the HFA said in a statement, via HipHopDX. “Black Panther had the highest grossing non-sequel opening weekend of all time, showing that diversity and representation in front and behind the camera can equal global box-office success.”

The exciting news comes after director Ryan Coogler has officially signed onto write and direct the second film. Sources say Ryan plans on penning the script next year with production starting later in 2019 or early 2020. “The biggest thing for me was the themes of the story – letting [Marvel] know where my head was at and making sure they would get on board,” Ryan previously stated about the first film. “I was very honest about the idea I wanted to explore in this film, which is what it means to be African. That was one of the first things I talked about. And they were completely interested.”