Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is the highly anticipated sequel to the 2018 hit film Black Panther. The movie will mark the 30th entry into the MCU and is set for release on November 11, 2022. Yet with six months until the film's release, very little about the movie has been revealed officially to the press. Marvel Studios is keeping production on this film highly secretive.
The film has a lot of expectations behind it, as Black Panther grossed $700 million domestically and $1.3 billion worldwide, making it the fifth highest-grossing film domestically, the sixteenth highest-grossing film worldwide, and one of the biggest superhero movies of all time. It was the first superhero movie to be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards and earned seven Academy Award nominations and won three, including Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, and Best Original Score.
Black Panther was more than a movie, it was a cultural phenomenon and a groundbreaking landmark moment for many audiences. That meant that making a sequel was always going to be a daunting task, as they are not only making a sequel to one of the most successful movies of all time but now must make a sequel in the aftermath of the lead star Chadwick Boseman's passing away before production began.
This means Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is now more than just the next chapter in the MCU, but also a final tribute to a great actor gone too soon. What can audiences expect from the sequel? What should they expect? While there are still months before the film's release, here are some storylines and characters Black Panther: Wakanda Forever might and should feature.
A Fitting Farewell To Chadwick Boseman
The most obvious element that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will have to deal with is the tragic and untimely passing of star Chadwick Boseman. Boseman passed away on August 28, 2020, after a four-year battle with colon cancer that he kept hidden from the public. Boseman's death forced the creative team to rework the entire film at a page 1 rewrite, and in December 2020 Marvel Studios' president Kevin Feige confirmed that the role of T'Challa would not be recast.
Boseman's death left a massive gaping hole in not just the MCU, as they lost one of their most beloved heroes, but popular culture as a whole he was the heroic face for an entire generation of kids that is now no longer there. While comic book superheroes are immortal and live on forever, real-life people are not, and the loss of Boseman and how Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will address this real-world issue hangs over the entire film.
The film now has to both acknowledge the character's further absence from the MCU while also making a fitting tribute that does not feel exploitative. Whatever the decision of how to handle the real-life passing is not going to be an easy one, but it appears everyone involved from writer and director Ryan Coogler, producer Kevin Feige and the entire cast and crew acknowledges the weight of the situation and is doing everything to make Black Panther: Wakanda forever both a worthy sequel but also a film that honors Boseman as a great actor and great man.
Namor The Sub-Mariner
While not confirmed, it is highly believed that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will see the introduction of Namor the Sub-Mariner. One of the first characters created for Marvel Comis (when it was still titled Timely Comics), Namor was created in 1939 and has been a big player in the Marvel Comics universe. He is both the King of Atlantis and also what is typically referred to as 'The First Mutant,' which could very much be his place in the MCU, as he would arrive before the X-Men into the franchise. Namor can fit many roles in both the MCU and specifically Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, from an anti-hero to a full-blown antagonist.
Namor being in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever makes a certain amount of sense, as both Namor and the Black Panther are rules of technologically advanced kingdoms. Both Wakanda and Atlantis have come into conflict before in the comics, notably in Avengers VS X-Men when Namor using the power of the Phoenix Force flooded Wakanda. Also, both characters have very close ties to The Fantastic Four, as Namor made his grand return to comics in Fantastic Four #4 while Black Panther made his debut in Fantastic Four #52. With The Fantastic Four film joining the MCU very soon, a confrontation between two of their most iconic supporting players may be a good starting place.
Wakanda's Impact On The Rest Of The World
Black Panther's mid-credit scene teased big ramifications for the MCU moving forward. The film ended with the announcement Wakanda would open its borders to the rest of the world, looking to share its technology and even making outreach programs with the first one being based in California. Yet in the four years since the film's release, and the multiple MCU projects not much has been hinted at how this has impacted the world at all.
One has to assume Wakanda's technology and knowledge certainly came in handy in those five years between Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has a chance to truly examine how the MCU has been shaped by this major revelation of Wakanda opening up its borders, with their resources being both for the betterment of humanity but also how certain individuals could be using it for nefarious purposes.
Storm
With the acquisition of 20th Century Fox by Disney, it meant that the film rights to the X-Men reverted to Marvel Studios. One of the most famous members of the X-Men is without a doubt Ororo Munroe aka Storm, the mutant with the ability to control the weather. Storm originates in Kenya not Wakanda but in 2006 Marvel Comics revealed that Storm and Black Panther were childhood sweethearts who in their adult years eventually married.
While the MCU cannot adapt the comic storyline of Storm and T'Challa marrying, the film can still address if the two had a childhood romance and bring her in as an ally to Wakandan forces. With Black Panther: Wakanda Forever already introducing Iron Heart, it might be best to save Storm's reveal for a mid-credit scene.
Using various MCU projects to introduce different mutant characters at a time before eventually uniting them as the X-Men is smart from a business perspective as it builds audience anticipation and with how well known the characters are audiences will immediately recognize them, but also in fitting with the MCU format of bringing characters from other properties together. After a few mutants show up in a variety of different film and television series, having them all unite as the X-Men in their own project helps get a lot of the build-up out of the way.