Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has been the only thing reigning supreme on our collective minds ever since the teaser gave us a peek at the mechanisms of the film. The trailer, which launched merely 2 days ago, has reignited all our aspirations about the narrative which needs to be rendered complete for Marvel to move forward. Not only is the audience getting a new Black Panther, but also characters that become singularly important in the timeline’s future.
What Will It Take to Become the Next Black Panther?
The female co-stars of Letitia Wright joined in on a conversation with Elle about what the new Black Panther suit entails as to the person wearing it. Danai Gurira and Lupita Nyong’o have played very essential roles in the world of Black Panther since Captain America: Civil War and continue to do so. The close association of the characters with their King and leader has consequently placed them in a position where they are informed enough about the politics of warfare to pick up the mantle left behind in T’Challa’s wake.
Also read: Who is the New Black Panther – Okoye, Nakia, or Shuri?
However, the Dora Milaje is the bastion that Okoye serves, and as such serves and protects the royalty. Nakia, too, is qualified in the art of battle and espionage but never in a superheroic vigilante capacity. But most of all, the two women (since the trailer clearly shows a woman donning the Panther suit) do not have the one aspect that has been proclaimed a necessity by Bast, the Panther Goddess — that the Black Panther must be of Wakandan royalty and descended from one out of five tribes of the nation. That places Shuri as the most qualified candidate, given her extensive knowledge of technology, weaponry, battlefield experience, and intelligence.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Cast Talks About Shuri
As per the comics, the sister of King T’Challa upon the latter’s grave injuries had taken up the mantle several times to continue the fight. But the MCU is anything but true to the literal course of events, which makes the rare invocations from the comics, like Captain’s famed “Avengers, assemble!” call in the final battle of Endgame all the more memorable. So this might either mean that Shuri does take up the mantle in the final battle against Talocan or there might be a musical chair of Black Panther candidates until one ultimately beats everyone else to the final seat.
Danai Gurira and Lupita Nyong’o have indicated the latter to be true. While Nyong’o states, “We love the speculation”, Gurira claims, “They’re not getting all of it right!”. The trailer clearly indicates a different and more well-equipped suit, in the end, bearing the same dots on the mask as has been seen before on Shuri’s face on multiple occasions. This could essentially place her as the final ascended and chosen successor. But the path until that decisive moment might not be paved with such finality in its declaration of Boseman’s legacy.
Whatever Ryan Coogler’s film has in store for us, the actors have stated at least one thing in common, that the film offered them a path out of the darkness and taught them to overcome the pain of grief and loss. In Nyong’o’s words, “[Coogler] offered a raft out of a deep sea of grief” and that alone marks the reason why millions would flock to watch the film and celebrate it despite the echoing absence of its most beloved leader.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever premieres on 11 November 2022.
Source: Elle
