In 1988,
Eddie Murphy wrote and starred (as Akeem, Prince of Zamunda) in a smash hit
comedy flick,
Coming To America. Ever since, from time to time, thoughts have arisen as to what a
sequel might be like. Those thoughts have been fanned on a few occasions, but never more than with
the recent announcement that Murphy and
Hustle & Flow director
Craig Brewer were indeed moving forward with a sequel -- and aiming to bring back essentially all of the living original cast --
Arsenio Hall (who played Akeem's cousin) and Akeem's love interest
Shari Headley are still working actors, as is
Eriq La Salle, who played the in-the-way boyfriend.
John Amos (as the putative father-in-law) has
already expressed that he would be on board, and Zamunda's King was played by
James Earl Jones, though 87, still alive. Sadly,
Madge Sinclair, who played Akeem's mother, the Queen, passed on many years ago, a fact I would hope would be honored in the sequel (interestingly, she voiced the Queen in
The Lion King, again opposite James Earl Jones as the King). It was mentioned early on that a possible title, given
Hollywood's recent penchant for playful titling, would indeed be
Coming 2 America -- and this title
has now been confirmed.
Now, fans of the original will recall that Murphy's character hailed from the fictional African kingdom of Zamunda. My proposal for the sequel is that Zamunda ought to be made a neighbor of
Wakanda, and so, the original
Coming To America retroactively deemed a canon
Marvel Cinematic Universe film. This is in fact even more easily accomplished than it may first sound, because of one critical factor tying the franchises together:
Samuel L. Jackson. Now, it is true, that Jackson's brief appearance in
Coming To America is as a two-bit hood robbing a fast food burger joint. But the character is neither named nor given motivations. But what if....
what if that robber's name was
Nick Fury, and that robbery was either staged as part of some greater undercover operation, or possible even a transformative
comeuppance by which Fury was turned from a life of crime to one seeking justice as an agent of
S.H.I.E.L.D!! It is established that the events of forthcoming
Captain Marvel, set in the mid-1990s, will feature a younger Fury not yet having lost an
eye, just like the character in
Coming To America hadn't.
Consider, then, the possibilities of an MCU
Coming 2 America (presumably post-
Avengers: Endgame when we expect
Thanos'
snap to be undone). Akeem, now King of Zamunda (his father having abdicated to retire from the duties of kingship) could team up with neighboring King
T'Challa to thwart more mischief in
Africa before the two, and their wives/significant others, head to Avengers headquarters in
New York to deal with matters of both the heart and the fate of the
Universe. Hilarity ensues,
Neil Diamond makes a much-needed
cameo, all while getting their hair cut by very familiar looking barbers. And whenever Nick Fury finally shows up, Akeem can pointedly note how naggingly familiar he, too, seems.