There’s just one week left until the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever premiere. Even with the release right around the corner, we’re not done talking about the next significant chapter in Phase 4 of the MCU. And this time around, we have more information about a crucial detail: Where Black Panther: Wakanda Forever fits on the MCU timeline.
Some spoilers might follow below, especially if you’re not up to date with Phase 4.
Why the Wakanda Forever timeline is important
Since MCU shows are interconnected, we need a chronology of events to understand them. Especially considering that Marvel doesn’t always release content chronologically. Some movies and TV shows are jumping around in time, offering context about events and characters that are important to the present-day story of the MCU.
But the timeline is even more important for Wakanda Forever, considering that T’Challa’s Black Panther has died. Chadwick Boseman last appeared as Black Panther in Endgame. He was resurrected alongside half of the universe’s living beings.
Wakanda Forever will tell us how T’Challa died and pay homage to both the character and the actor. But T’Challa’s death must have occurred after the events of Endgame.
Moreover, Marvel recently shared some interesting details about the film’s timeline. The present-day in Wakanda Forever is about a year after T’Challa’s death. The King died at some point after October 2023, when the events of Endgame took place. Therefore, Wakanda Forever has to take place in 2024 at the earliest, if not much later.
Black Panther 2’s place on the MCU timeline
We no longer have to speculate, however. We now know the place of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever on the MCU timeline precisely.
Marvel producer Nate Moore addressed the matter during the Wakanda Forever press tour and explained the chronology in broad strokes:
This movie clearly happens after No Way Home and Eternals. I think it probably happens potentially concurrent with [Thor: Love and Thunder]. New Asgard does exist in our universe, for instance, or in our film. And almost concurrent with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which is coming out in February.
We know that Eternals happens about a year after Endgame, around Halloween 2024. No Way Home takes place mostly after Halloween, in November 2024.
As for Love and Thunder, the action takes place sometime during the fall of 2025 at the earliest. It could also happen a bit later than that, perhaps in 2026, based on how Thor (Chris Hemsworth) describes his breakup with Jane (Natalie Portman).
Not to mention that Ms. Marvel happens in the fall of 2025, and Love and Thunder follows it on the Disney Plus chronological timeline.
With that in mind, we have a good idea of where Wakanda Forever sits on the MCU timeline. The present-day action in Black Panther 2 will likely happen as early as the fall of 2025, which means T’Challa died in 2024, not long after the events of Endgame. It could also happen later in 2026, in which case the former Black Panther died at some point in 2025.
The credits scene surprise and the timeline
The film’s credits scene will make many people look into the Wakanda Forever MCU timeline for a reason we won’t spoil now. But we covered that already.
Finally, the Disney Plus Wakanda Forever release will show us exactly where the Black Panther sequel sits on the MCU timeline.
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