By: Angelica Bastien

After winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in the 2013 film 12 Years A Slave Lupita Nyong’o’s film career didn’t catapult in the ways fans expected. But it looks like she’s coming back into the spotlight with the release of the Queen of Katwe trailer and news of her potential casting in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Nyong’o smartly chose to be very careful about her next steps going onto Broadway in the play Eclipsed which nabbed her 2016 Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Play. In terms of her film career she recently appeared (thanks to CGI) in hits Star Wars: The Force Awakens and The Jungle Book. For fans who want to see Nyong’o take on more leading live-action roles, you’re in luck.

RELATED: My Conflicted Feelings on Lupita Nyong’o’s Invisibility in ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’

The trailer for Queen of Katwe which stars David Oyelowo, Alex Heffes, and Nyong’o was recently released. The Disney film is based on a true story about a Ugandan chess prodigy in which Nyong’o plays the young girl’s mother. It is set to hit theaters on September 23rd. The Mira Nair directed film looks to be an incredibly moving portrait about family and even though Nyong’o is supporting her roles seems substantial.

Her role in Queen of Katwe marks the first live-action role she booked after winning an Academy Award. In an interview with Vulture Nyong’o said, “In the sense that I am returning to the screen in my body for the first time, I cannot think of a more exciting, powerful and hopeful true story to mark it.”

A few days after the Queen of Katwe trailer dropped, news hit that Nyong’o is in talks to co-star in Marvel’s Black Panther film due in theaters February 2018. The film directed by Creed’s Ryan Coogler is already picking up praise for reportedly having a cast that is set to be 90% African or African-American, which is pretty amazing considering Marvel’s tepid progress with diversity thus far. Nyong’o’s role is underwraps but is said to be Black Panther’s “love interest”. Hopefully, the role lives up to her incredibly skills as an actor.

 

Photo: Flickr/Gordon Correll