Black Panther 2 will ask who is best placed to become Wakanda’s new hero
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Black Panther 2’s Wakandan characters will all have an opinion about who should replace T’Challa as their new superhero.
Speak with The Hollywood Reporter (opens in new tab)Marvel Studios vice president of production and development, Nate Moore, revealed an intriguing new piece about the upcoming MCU Phase 4 movie. Namely, that anyone associated with the African kingdom believes that another individual is best suited to take on the role. So expect some tense discussions between the film’s main characters over who should succeed their fallen king as the heir to the Black Panther name.
Following the death of lead actor Chadwick Boseman in August 2020, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will become an ensemble film, with returning actors such as Letitia Wright, Angela Bassett, Winston Duke and Lupita Nyong’o taking on larger roles.
The biggest question surrounding the superhero movie concerns the identity of the character to replace Boseman’s T’Challa as Wakanda’s champion, aka the titular Black Panther. The Marvel movie’s latest trailer already seemed to confirm who that person will be, but it could be a deception – a tactic Marvel has used in the past for its other highly anticipated projects.
For her part, Nyong’o gave nothing away in THR’s cover story about the Kenyan-Mexican actor. However, Moore was a bit more outspoken, suggesting that all of Wakanda’s major players have an opinion about who the next Black Panther should be.
“The Black Panther has been around in Wakanda for ages, so the idea of someone else taking up the mantle didn’t seem inorganic,” Moore said. “But once that had to materialize, it was, ‘Okay, what makes the most sense for the story? Who’s actually most excited to take this on?’ All the characters in the film have a different idea of who should put on the mantle and why.”
Fortunately, it won’t be long before we find out who Wakanda’s new Commander in Chief is. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever hits theaters worldwide on November 11. However, the social media embargo will be lifted on October 28, so major story spoilers could begin to appear online from this point. Keep this in mind if you’re browsing Twitter from that date.
Analysis: do we really know who the new Black Panther is?
Potentially major spoilers for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever to follow.
It would seem so. As we mentioned before, the film’s latest trailer seems to confirm who will be taking on the Black Panther mantle in Wakanda Forever, with most fans – including us – speculating that it’s none other than Shuri, T’Challa’s brother. It’s clearly a female character in the suit at the end of the trailer, and the white face paint markings on the helmet, which Shuri adorned during T’Challa’s funeral procession, almost confirms that she’s Wakanda’s new champion.
But what if it isn’t? What if this is all a misdirection from Marvel? After all, the studio is in a form to either leave spoiler-based content out of the trailers, or include footage that won’t make it into the final film (Avengers: Infinity War, we’re looking at you).
So the new Black Panther can be anyone. The character we see wearing the superhero suit in the latest trailer could be Danai Gurira’s Okoye, Nyongo’s Nakia, or even Michaela Coel’s Aneka. As we mentioned, the markings on the helmet may be a way to distract us from the smell, making us think it’s Shuri when it really isn’t.
Then there is the possibility that one of the above quartet is temporary keepers of the name Black Panther. In September 2021, reports emerged that Winston Duke’s M’Baku would be wearing the suit. Meanwhile, online rumors have claimed that multiple characters will take on the mantle. Another piece of speculation suggests that a character we’ve yet to see could also become the new Black Panther, but we won’t post that here in case a) it turns out to be true, and b) it ends up being a huge spoiler .
With the Marvel movie less than a month after its release, we’ll soon know for sure. In the meantime, Marvel will love the speculation generated from the latest trailer and all the other rumors that led to the film’s release.
For more MCU-based content, find out which highly anticipated villain will make his MCU debut in Marvel Studios’ Ironheart Disney Plus show. Or read everything we know about Marvel Phase 5.