Turns out, Crunchyroll has just hit the 4 million subscriber mark. To celebrate the occasion, they’ve announced that they will co-produce a new animated series called Dantai with Green Door Pictures and Pink Towel Pictures. The respective companies are owned by none other than Idris Elba and his wife Sabrina.

Idris and Sabrina Elba, the co-producers of Dantai.
Did not know that they were into anime.

Who’s Idris Elba, you might ask? Well, a lot of you might know him better as Heimdall from the Thor films.

Idris Elba and Heimdall.
The most epic doorman in Norse mythology.

Sadly, Dantai will not take place in the Thor universe, or even in the Marvel cinematic universe in general. However, the premise of this new animated series will seem familiar to fans of one particular Marvel film. Deadline describes the series (a bit confusingly) as both a “dark fantasy” and an “Afro-futuristic science fiction series”. The official logline mixes up the genres even more by saying:

The series will be set in a city where the rise of biotechnology has created an “ever-widening gap between the haves and have-nots. Two rising stars from either side of this divide are pitted against each other in a story that will ultimately explore equality and kinship within a corrupt society.

Dantai: Black Panther the Anime?

Black Panther movie poster, the live-action Dantai?
Now imagine them all in anime-style art.

It’s not just me, right? You can all see the resemblance in plot to Black Panther, right? Both Dantai and Black Panther mix up fantasy and science fiction, and they both feature an Afro-futuristic city. I can easily see the animated series taking place in a sort of mega-Wakanda.

Concept art for Wakanda.
Marvel Studios’ BLACK PANTHER Steptown Conceptual Set Design by Hannah Beachler’s Production Design Team Illustration: Till Nowak

It’s possible that Dantai could be something of an alternate version of Wakanda. Or possibly even an attempt to flesh out Wakanda, and/or make it more like Ankh-Morpork. This alternate Wakanda might even have callbacks and references to Black Panther as a nod to it, although that might depend on how Disney feels about it. If Disney don’t like it, they might nix any crossover and references out entirely. Of course, all this is pure speculation barring any official information. Take it with a grain of salt.

Black Panther pepper shaker and Captain America salt shaker.
Or you can take a grain of pepper too.

Conclusion

Crunchyroll have teamed up with Idris and Sabrina Elba to produce Dantai. It’ll be an Afro-futuristic science fiction/fantasy animated series. Based on Crunchyroll’s involvement, it’ll likely feature anime-style art. Any references to Black Panther and Wakanda may or may not be intentional here.

Source: Deadline