Black Panther is probably one of the most powerful superheroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, having powers almost similar to that of a superhuman. The character, who late Chadwick Boseman played, possesses powers heightened by a particular heart-shaped herb administered to him as part of a sacred ascension ritual exclusively to Wakandan kings.
That very herb is the root essence of the super-soldier serum that was administered to Steve Rogers, resulting in America’s first Avenger- Captain America. Well, that is according to one Reddit user, who proposes a theory stating that Abraham Erskine made the original serum by using the heart-shaped herb, which he acquired from a man with a surname that echoes through Marvel fans’ ears.
The Herb That Strengethend Black Panther Was Used In Making The Super Soldier Serum
Black Panther introduced us to the world of Wakanda, ruled by T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), where the history of the country was shown to Marvel fans. One of the more notable things to note from the movie was the heart-shaped herb- a plant with native roots to Wakanda that the country’s kings consume after becoming a ruler for the first time.
The plant has shown us the powers it allots to the consumer, like Boseman’s T’Challa- heightened senses, immense strength, fast reflexes, etc., and most notably, entry into the astral plane.
The theory regarding the heart-shaped herb being the main ingredient used to make the super-soldier serum comes from a Reddit user’s introspective mind.
How Erskine could’ve possibly gotten the herb is explained by the user, who says that he got a sample of the herb from Howard Stark while he was sourcing vibranium from the country of Wakanda. The user further explains that this is plausible since Black Panther and Captain America share similar powers.
This theory, if true, serves as the reasoning for another theory that explains why Captain America cannot beat Black Panther head-on in a 1v1. Keep reading to find out more.
The Black Panther-Captain America-Bucky Chase In Civil War Explains Everything
This is more of a comparison between the heart-shaped herb and the super soldier serum in the MCU, in which the use of both power-enhancing consumables has resulted in two almost superhuman characters.
Let’s take a trip down memory lane to that one scene in Captain America: Civil War, where Black Panther appears out of the blue to chase down a fleeing Bucky, who is also being tailed by Captain America.
Related: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Reportedly Has Extremely High Chance of Conquering the Next Oscars
The chase shows us one of its sequences where Bucky is being chased by both T’Challa and Steve Rogers inside an underpass filled with cars surfing the traffic. The three move with ease between the sets of vehicles, but it is T’Challa who clearly outpaces Rogers as they chase Bucky, who is eventually brought down by… T’Challa!
This scene proves that the heart-shaped herb that was administered to Black Panther gives him an advantage over the super-soldier serum-powered Captain America. Thus, proving that the super-soldier serum provides an inferior result in attribution of powers as compared to the heart-shaped-herb. The serum is simply a cheaper knock-off! (although Rogers is pretty strong).
It will be interesting to see if Marvel goes on to make a movie in which these two characters battle it out, but that will take quite the time since there is no one lined up to play Black Panther after the untimely death of Chadwick Boseman.
The IMAX Enhanced version of Captain America: Civil War is currently available for streaming on Disney+.
