Michael B. Jordan reflects on keeping his Black Panther 2 role a secret

Michael B. Jordan as Kilmonger — (Image credit: Disney/Marvel)

Chadwick Boseman discussed keeping his return as Kilmonger in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever a secret on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

"It's tough, I think this time around, because we lost our brother Chadwick - Rest in Peace to Chadwick Boseman - it was so much weight, to power through," he told Fallon. "And Ryan Coogler had such a tremendous task in front of him to evolve the script and the story in a way that still kind of honored Chadwick but move the franchise forward as well.

"So for me to be able to come back, and I really had to keep it under wraps, I had to grow my hair out. You know, I got the locks back in and stuff like that. And I’m traveling a lot of places, so I’ve got to wear a hat, a hoodie, fly private, which isn’t too bad of a thing. But being able to keep it under wraps was really a tough thing."

Jordan appeared in the first Black Panther as Kilmonger, one of the hero's most dangerous enemies. He returns briefly in the sequel, appearing to Shuri in the Ancestral Plane.

Lauren Milici is a Senior Entertainment Writer for GamesRadar+ based in New York City. She previously reported on breaking news for The Independent's Indy100 and created TV and film listicles for Ranker. Her work has been published in Fandom, Nerdist, Paste Magazine, Vulture, PopSugar, Fangoria, and more.