Who Is the Next Black Panther? What We Know About Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
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The post Who Is the Next Black Panther? What We Know About Black Panther: Wakanda Forever appeared first on Consequence.
Marvel’s Black Panther, anchored by Chadwick Boseman’s stellar performance as King T’Challa, achieved immense critical and cultural acclaim in 2018. It earned over $1 billion at the box office and tallied seven Oscar nominations — including Best Picture — with wins for score, production design, and costume design.
As a result, the Ryan Coogler film was bound to have a follow-up. However, Boseman’s death in August 2020 after a battle with cancer meant that his last live-action appearance as T’Challa would be in the 2019 hit Avengers: Endgame. (Boseman also lent his voice as Black Panther for the Disney+ series What If…?, for which he won a posthumous Emmy for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance.)
Now, with Coogler returning to direct the sequel effort, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, questions have been raised about who will follow in the footsteps of Boseman in this closing chapter of the MCU’s Phase Four, coming out November 11th.
Here’s everything you need to know about the future of Black Panther.
What Will Happen to T’Challa’s Character?
Disney has already confirmed that King T’Challa has passed away, issuing a press release that summarized the plot of the sequel. Revolving around the characters of Shuri (Letitia Wright), Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), M’Baku (Winston Duke), and Okoye (Danai Gurira), the plot is said to see these heroes “fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T’Challa’s death,” according to the logline.
The first official trailer for Wakanda Forever begins with the country in a period of mourning for the loss of T’Challa, including a procession carrying of the Black Panther mask and the reveal of a T’Challa mural.
Why Wasn’t Chadwick Boseman Recast?
While T’Challa may not be in the follow-up film, Marvel wanted to emphasize Boseman’s legacy with the character; in September 2022, Marvel head Kevin Feige told Empire that “it just felt like it was much too soon to recast.”
Both Feige and Coogler worked together to ensure that Wakanda Forever is a worthy memorial for both Boseman and the character of T’Challa. “The conversations were entirely about, yes, ‘What do we do next?’ and how could the legacy of Chadwick — and what he had done to help Wakanda and the Black Panther become these incredible, aspirational, iconic ideas — continue?” Feige said.
In the Comics, Did Other People Besides T’Challa Serve as Black Panther?
As established in Captain America: Civil War and emphasized in Black Panther, the mantle of Black Panther is passed down through the generations to those who rule Wakanda. In the Marvel comics, there has been a long history of Panthers, including one from 1,000,000 B.C., Bashenga (the first Black Panther), and the 11th century’s Queen Nehanda. The first movie also saw Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) win the title of Black Panther from T’Challa in a duel, a plot point taken straight from the comics.
There have been numerous alternate reality versions of Black Panther as well, including one where Steven Rogers (Captain America) temporarily wore the habit. In the proper Marvel continuity, a New York City cop named Kevin Cole “borrowed” the Black Panther identity to take down crooked cops and the 66 Bridges Gang before eventually becoming White Tiger.
As far as true heirs to the Black Panther in the comics, however, there has really only been one following T’Challa: Shuri. T’Challa’s younger sister was actually intent on taking the mantle from their uncle, reluctant ruler S’Yan, before her brother did. Years later, when T’Challa was incapacitated by Doctor Doom, Shuri stepped into the role of Black Panther. She maintained the persona for some time, even once T’Challa returned, marking the first time in history there were two Panther avatars.
Who Will Become the New Black Panther in Wakanda Forever?
While the trailer doesn’t show one specific character donning the hero’s armor, the ending of the clip does show that someone will become the next Black Panther. Thus, there’s no definitive answer as of yet as to who that is, but all signs point to Shuri (Wright), taking on her brother’s legacy. At the very least, the poster for the film places her in the middle of the cast, doing the “Wakanda Forever” salute.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Disney)
Who Are the New Additions to the Cast?
While a good chunk of the film’s original cast will be returning, including Lupita Nyong’o and Martin Freeman, Wakanda Forever will feature an array of new characters. The film’s anticipated antagonist is Namor, who will be played by Tenoch Huerta of Narcos: Mexico. Namor’s Atlantis (changed to Talocan for the movie) and Wakanda have a deep and troubled history in the comics, and as Black Panther, Shuri played a central role in their war, adding more weight to the theories swirling around the film.
Along with Huerta, viewers will see the Marvel debut of Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams, a Tony Stark disciple who becomes Ironheart and is set to receive a spinoff show on Disney+. Ozark and American Horror Story actor Alex Livinalli will portray Attuma, a barbaric Talocan conqueror, while Asphalt Goddess star Mabel Cadena plays Namor’s cousin, Namora. UFC star Kamaru Usman will also appear in the film, as well as I May Destroy You actress Michaela Coel, with the latter playing Dora Milaje captain Aneka.
Not returning will be Daniel Kaluuya’s character of W’Kabi, due to a filming conflict with Nope.
When Can I See Black Panther: Wakanda Forever?
Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will release in the United States on November 11th, 2022.
Who Is the Next Black Panther? What We Know About Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Joe Eckstein and Ben Kaye
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