Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will be released on November 11th to advance the MCU story, honor Chadwick Boseman, and reveal the identity of the new Black Panther. That’s a lot to ask from the sequel that already has a challenging task ahead: It needs to be at least as good as the origin story from several years ago.
Marvel’s marketing campaign is in full swing, with huge reveals coming two weeks before the release of the film, and the studio just released a brand new TV clip titled Long Live Wakanda. It’s not exactly a trailer, but it delivers plenty of new footage from Wakanda Forever. That includes an even better but still blurry look at Ironheart.
But there’s a different tidbit that’s even more exciting. Marvel might have accidentally revealed the identity of the next Black Panther.
You’ll want to avert your eyes to avoid MCU spoilers because a big one is coming below.
Who is Marvel’s new Black Panther?
Chadwick Boseman’s tragic death shocked the world and the industry a few years ago. Marvel decided not to recast the T’Challa role, which added a complication to the Wakanda Forever sequel. The studio would have to deliver a Black Panther story featuring a new character inside the superhero costume.
Marvel never revealed who will take the Black Panther role now that King T’Challa has died. The trailers we saw so far indicated that Marvel will honor Boseman’s legacy, and King T’Challa, in the movie.
Marvel also teased the new Black Panther in the first trailer. Then, we discovered in the second trailer that a woman will become Black Panther in Wakanda Forever.
We always knew that was a possibility for the MCU role. And Shuri seemed destined to take on the role at some point in the future. Such talk was in place even before Boseman’s untimely death.
Wakanda Forever leaks that followed suggested that it might not be Shuri who becomes the new protector of Wakanda. Or that we would see multiple people wearing the armor.
Not to mention that the Black Panther ritual is no longer possible now that the country lacks the magic herb.
The new Wakanda Forever TV clip
With that in mind, Marvel just released the new Black Panther 2 promo clip you’ll see at the end of this post. We get various revelations from it, like the fact that someone is covered in Vibranium, the powerful metal that helped Wakanda become the most developed nation on Earth.
It’s Shuri who says as much to Ramonda (Angela Bassett). Also exciting is seeing the Queen ready to fight in that scene. We should not forget that Ramonda was probably a fierce warrior in her youth.
We also get an even better look at Ironheart (Dominique Thorne). The MCU’s Iron Man replacement is fighting Namor (Tenoch Huerta) in some scenes and flying in others. However, we still can’t get a better look at the Iron-Man-like suit. That’s how fast those cuts are.
The best part is seeing the new Black Panther fighting in various scenes. And it’s in one of them that the new superhero twists in the air to fire gauntlets similar to what Shuri has worn in previous MCU movies. Like Endgame.
Is Shuri the new Black Panther?
We have to remember that Marvel loves to mislead fans with its MCU trailers and clips. We saw it happen with movies like No Way Home and Multiverse of Madness.
The studio knows fans would make the connection above. The new Black Panther wearing gauntlets similar to Shuri’s must mean that T’Challa’s sister ascended to the role. And Marvel certainly wants this debate before the movie’s premiere. It’ll only drive up fan interest and ticket sales. It certainly beats bringing up Superman in the credits scene trick.
But this surprising TV ad reveal could be misleading. Marvel might want to make us believe that she’s getting the role. Remember that Shuri is one of the most brilliant minds on Earth, with access to sophisticated technology. She would surely provide assistance to anyone wearing the armor. She’d create and adapt it to the user without having to wear it herself.
So, who else could it be if it’s not Shuri getting the suit? Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) is another option for becoming the MCU’s new Black Panther. But that’s pure speculation at this point.
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