Oakland's Ryan Coogler to return as writer-director of 'Black Panther 2'

Oakland-born Ryan Coogler isn't leaving Wakanda: The filmmaker will write and direct the sequel to "Black Panther."

A person close to the production who requested anonymity because they weren't authorized to announce the deal confirmed Coogler's return to the Marvel franchise on Thursday. The Hollywood Reporter first reported Coogler's widely expected involvement in the "Black Panther" sequel.

Neither a start date nor a release date has yet been announced.

"Black Panther" earlier this year grossed more than $1.3 billion worldwide, including $700 million domestically - a new record for a Marvel release.

Sources told the Hollywood Reporter that the plan at this stage is for Coogler to write the script next year with an eye to start production in either late 2019 or early 2020. Marvel and parent company Disney, however, have not made any official announcements about Marvel's slate of movies beyond the release of the next Avengers pic in May 2019 and a Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel in July.

Coogler is also a producer on the upcoming "Creed 2," a sequel to the Coogler's 2015 Apollo Creed film.

His first feature length film was Fruitvale Station, a story about the death of Oscar Grant who was killed by BART police in 2009.

KTVU contributed to this report.