Black Panther Star Chadwick Boseman To Play Japan's First African Samurai

"That's not just an action movie, that's a cultural event, an exchange, and I am excited to be part of it."

According to a biography of Yasuke - titled African Samurai: The True Story of Yasuke, a Legendary Black Warrior in Feudal Japan - he wound up in the Land of the Rising Sun in 1579, going on to become the bodyguard and valet of the powerful Portuguese Jesuit missionary Alessandro Valignano.

In a bid to curry favour with the feared warlord Oda Nobunaga, Yasuke was then offered as a gift - and it was he who would give our hero the prestigious title of Samurai.

The biography says: "People in the streets did not only gape at him, they bowed, heads to the earth, as they addressed him."

According to reports, Doug Miro - part of the team responsible for hit Netflix series Narcos - is writing the script for the film alongside fellow co-creator Carlo Bernard and showrunner Eric Newman.

If the movie is even half as successful as the most recent Marvel flick, which saw Boseman return to his role as Black Panther, it will smash the box office.

Over the weekend it was revealed that the Endgame had made it into a very exclusive club of just five movies which have taken over $2 billion at the box office - and it was hotly tipped to go on to have the most successful opening for a film ever. Now it seems as though those predictions were right.

Marvel announced the news on their Twitter page, writing: "The world has spoken. Marvel Studios' #AvengersEndgame is the #1 box office opening of all time."

During its opening weekend, Endgame accounted for more than four out of every five tickets sold in US cinemas. Try and wrap your head around that.