As production on The Avengers: Age of Ultron began covertly yesterday in Johannesburg, South Africa, it was declared by the Gauteng Film Commission not only that the location will appear in the first 10 minutes of the sequel, but also that it will appear as itself, as opposed to some other costly or nonexistent location. This seemed to dismiss the notion that Marvel's technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda and its esteemed Black Panther would finally grace the shared cinematic universe, but that dismissal may have come too soon.
Drew McWeeny of HitFix has taken to Twitter to seemingly suggest that Wakanda is in fact a setting in The Avengers: Age of Ultron. More specifically, in response to a tweet which acknowledged CBM's coverage that filming would soon begin in South Africa and that the "location is not Wakanda," the journalist simply tweeted, "that is not correct." Is McWeeny suggesting that the claims of the Gauteng Film Commission are untrue? Probably not.
In retrospect, the film commission technically said that The Avengers: Age of Ultron would be filming "Johannesburg as Johannesburg." Their announcement last month stated that, in addition to South Africa's largest city, the Marvel production will also be shooting in "other parts of the Gauteng province," which has 10 other cities that could double for Wakanda (with the help of CGI). Nevertheless, there's still no guarantee that we'll see T'Challa, the Black Panther, but if accurate, it's great to know that Marvel and Joss Whedon are laying groundwork for the Wakandian's anticipated debut. What do you think?
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