We’re more than three months away from the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever release date, but we already think we know what happens in the film. We saw a couple of plot leaks that line up well with the first teaser trailer that Marvel showed at Comic-Con. These plot leaks also revealed Marvel’s next Black Panther who will follow Chadwick Boseman.
Marvel’s first trailer explained how the MCU would address Boseman’s death. T’Challa’s funeral will occur in Black Panther 2. But Marvel has yet to confirm the identity of the next Black Panther — one of the most exciting and heartbreaking mysteries of the movie.
We now have another tidbit on the next Black Panther’s identity. A leaker claims that choosing the next Black Panther isn’t necessarily easy. But before we can explain, we’ll tell you that significant spoilers might follow below.
Who is Marvel’s next Black Panther?
Soon after Boseman’s death, we saw fans asking Marvel not to recast T’Challa. In the following months, Marvel confirmed that it would not hire another actor to play T’Challa/Black Panther. But who would become Wakanda’s new superhero in the MCU was never disclosed.
Speculation mounted that Shuri (Letitia Wright) would be Black Panther in Wakanda Forever, just like in the comics. That might have been Marvel’s original plan for the more distant Black Panther future. T’Challa might have passed on the Black Panther role to his sister. We’ll never witness that now that Boseman died in real life.
Fast-forward to July 2022, and we have a couple of unverified Wakanda Forever plot leaks that mention the identity of Marvel’s next Black Panther.
The first leak was also the shorter one, dropping online about a week before Comic-Con. The report said that Shuri (Letitia Wright) will indeed become the next Black Panther. She would make her own suit and defeat Namor (Tenoch Huerta).
The more detailed Wakanda Forever plot leak came a few days after the first trailer. It also offered the same story as the shorter version but added more context. And it also said that Shuri will be the film’s Black Panther. But the role might not stay with her for too long.
If that plot leak is accurate, we might see Shuri pass the Black Panther mantle to M’Baku (Winston Duke). He will also be the king of Wakanda Forever. That’s also a detail the shorter leak offered.
It might be more complicated
A leaker who goes by the name of Greatphase on Twitter invited followers to ask questions in an Ask-Me-Anything session over direct messaging.
One person asked about the next Black Panther, wondering if it will be Shuri or if Marvel wants to pass on the title to T’Challa’s son once he is old enough.
The leaker said that Shuri is Black Panther in Wakanda Forever. Furthermore, Marvel reportedly planned for Shuri to continue to be Black Panther until T’Challa’s son was old enough. However, Marvel also filmed a version of the film where Shuri gives the Black Panther role to M’Baku. He’ll wear the suit until T’Challa’s son comes of age.
Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) is pregnant, implying that we’ll see T’Challa’s son in the MCU down the road. And Marvel certainly has ways to age him up real fast if needed.
However, all of this can’t be confirmed. And it’s unlikely that Marvel will spill any secrets about Black Panther before the Wakanda Forever premiere.
It’ll be interesting to see how Marvel will promote the sequel in terms of trailers and video clips and how long it can afford not to show the film’s main superhero in those promos.
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