With “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”, the latest superhero film from Marvel Studios has started in German cinemas. “Black Panther 2” is now the 30th entry into the long-lived and extremely successful Marvel Cinematic Universe – apart from the Marvel series on the Disney streaming service. With so many different titles in the sprawling MCU, it’s easy to lose track. Here are the answers to some of the biggest questions from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
The second “Black Panther” film is deeply rooted in the history of the fictional, high-tech country of Wakanda – and in the overarching history of the MCU. So some of the viewers might ask themselves why the son of the deceased T’Challa, who was never mentioned before, suddenly appears in the end credits scene of the film.
When Shuri (Letitia Wright, 29) visits Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o, 39) at her school in Haiti at the very end of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Shuri introduces her son Toussaint (Divine Love Konadu-Sun). Much to her surprise, Nakia Shuri reveals that Toussaint’s Wakandan name is T’Challa. He is the son of the late Black Panther T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman, 1976-2020). Nakia is his ex-girlfriend, as revealed in the first “Black Panther” movie.
For future Marvel works and the “Black Panther” sequel, which was also announced in the credits, the appearance of Toussaints/T’Challas opens up several possibilities. On the one hand he can become Shuri’s successor on the throne of Wakanda – and of course the new Black Panther. The connection to the tragically deceased Chadwick Boseman is particularly well done.
However, “Black Panther 3” would have to start after a fairly large time jump, so that T’Challa, about five years old in “Wakanda Forever”, can become the new Black Panther.
The action of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” is essentially driven by the metal Vibranium. Powerful nations of the world like the USA and France want to get their hands on the rarest and hardest metal in the world. A huge meteorite fell in Wakanda long ago. That’s why vibranium occurs there.
The Wakandans not only craft their formidable weapons from Vibranium, but it also enabled them to advance in technology that super-inventor Tony Stark could only dream of. Incidentally, Captain America’s shield in the MCU is also made of Vibranium.
Before Black Panther 2, the MCU assumed Vibranium was unique to Wakanda. But the underwater kingdom of Talokan of anti-hero Namor (Tenoch Huerta, 41) also has this important resource. Shuri speculates in “Wakanda Forever” that the meteorite that once hit Central Africa may have broken up and another fragment could have landed on the bottom of the sea and thus in the Talokan underwater kingdom, which is based on Atlantis.
For example, in “Black Panther 2” the USA craves Vibranium. When CIA agent Everett Ross (Martin Freeman, 51) discusses this with new CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus, 61), de Fontaine explains that her dream would be for the United States to be the only country would be in possession of the mighty metal.
Vibranium then sparks the conflict between Wakanda and Talokan in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Villain Namor demands that Shuri and Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett, 64) hand over young inventor Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne, 25) to him. Riri conceived the device that the United States uses to find the vibranium deposit of Talokan on the ocean floor at the beginning of the film. Now Namor wants to kill Riri so she can’t construct another machine like this.
However, this is not the way of the more peaceful Wakandans. They also reject Namor’s suggestion that together they subjugate vibranium-hungry surface countries like the US and France. Namor is certainly shaped by its own history here. Centuries ago, his people fled into the sea from the brutal, murderous conquistadors.
The war between Talokan and Wakanda then ensues as Nakia frees Shuri from Talokan captivity. She kills two guards, which is tantamount to a declaration of war for Namor.
At the very end of the film, when Shuri has defeated Namor and might kill him, she instead accepts his surrender. Shuri’s stipulation is that Namor never wage war with the surface again. In return, Wakanda will keep Talokan’s existence a secret from the world.
Only late in “Wakanda Forever” does Shuri finally become the new Black Panther. That’s because villain Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan, 35) destroyed the so-called heart-shaped herb in the first “Black Panther” movie after ingesting it himself to gain Black Panther’s superpowers. The heart-shaped herb gives the Black Panther his superhuman powers.
Shuri now tries to make a synthetic version of the heart-shaped herb in “Wakanda Forever” – initially at the beginning of the film in order to save the life of her brother T’Challa. Although unsuccessful, Shuri later finally synthesizes it using a piece of the bracelet given to her by Namor in Talokan. The bracelet is made from the plant that appears in Namor’s Origin story and gives the people of Talokan the ability to breathe underwater.
This gives Shuri the Black Panther superpowers that T’Challa and Killmonger had in the first “Black Panther” film. That’s why she doesn’t die, for example, when Namor pierces her with a spear in the final battle. Because the heart-shaped herb gives – in addition to speed and strength – also the power of healing.
After Kamala Khan/ Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani, 20) from the Disney series “Ms. Marvel”, Namor is the second mutant in the MCU. He can breathe both on land and underwater, possesses superhuman strength and speed, and even the ability to fly thanks to wings on his ankles. In addition, it is around 500 years old.
However, viewers of “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” will remember Professor Charles Xavier, played by Sir Patrick Stewart (82), who is also a mutant. However, this scene takes place in another dimension called Earth-838. In the main Marvel dimension, in which most of the stories shown so far in the MCU take place, Namor is only the second mutant.
