The sudden demise of Chadwick Boseman left Marvel Studios with two choices: recast the role or pay tribute to the great man and pass the torch to another character in Wakanda forever.
As we all know, the MCU has gone with the latter. The challenges of taking this route are to establish a convincing backstory behind the original Black Panther’s death and a proper story arc for the person taking his throne next.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever didn’t take much time to reveal the identity of the next Black Panther. In fact, the very first trailer made it very clear to the fans.
Drumrolls! The next Black Panther is Shuri (Letitia Wright), T’Challas’s younger sister.
It isn’t exactly a surprise that the next Black Panther is Shuri. The hero’s mantle was kept inside the royal lineage for generations, and Shuri was the perfect candidate to fit the role of T’Challa’s successor.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever shows Shuri’s journey from a sister mourning for her brother to accepting the mantle in his honor in a very convincing way. Easier said than done!
How did Shuri become the new Black Panther?
In the beginning, Shuri tries to manufacture a synthetic substitute for the Heart-Shaped herb. Killmonger destroyed the herb in the first movie.
Shuri wants to use the herb to cure her brother’s illness as it connects the protector of Wakanda to the Panther Goddess Bast and enhances their power.
However, she is incapable of recreating the plant on time, and T’Challa dies. This catastrophe pushes her away from the traditions of Wakanda.
One year after this incident, Wakanda is threatened by Namor, the Takolan ruler. This pulls the trigger in Shuri’s mind, and she realizes it is time for the realm’s protector to return. She uses a magical bracelet that Namor gifted her in the past to accomplish that.
The bracelet was made from the branches of a tree that grew near a vibranium deposit. Shuri analyzes the branches’ molecular composition and can replicate that to make the Heart-Shaped herb.
The herb transports her to the Ancestral Plane. There, she meets her nefarious cousin, Killmonger. Killmonger forces her to accept that she is taking on the mantle just to kill Namor.
Killmonger tells her that Shuri isn’t as noble as her brother T’Challa and that she is more like her genocidal cousin.
This causes a verbal altercation between Shuri and the Killmonger, but she is determined to kill Namor. It is at this point that we see the inception of the new protector of Wakanda, Shuri.
The way Coogler managed to spin Boseman’s demise and include it in the story is incredible. MCU better send the offer letter to his mailbox for Black Panther 3 as soon as possible!
About Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is an upcoming American superhero film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It will serve as the sequel to Black Panther (2018) and will be the 30th film in the MCU. The film is being written and directed by Ryan Coogler.
Wakanda grieves the loss of their King T’Challa as the nation deals with opening up their technology to the world. But apart from the diplomatic agencies’ onslaught, Wakanda must face yet another danger as the king of Talcon, an underwater nation like DC’s Atlantis, Namor, has declared war on Wakanda.
Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, and Angela Bassett will star in the film, which will premiere on November 11, 2022.
No Comments on Who is the next Black Panther in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever?