Black Panther: Wakanda Forever just got a new trailer, and while many pending questions were answered, several more were raised based on the reveals. Fans have been trying to pull every crumb of information out of the trailer and have made many interesting assumptions. Some are more rational than others, but the internet is such a creative place when it comes to speculating about Black Panther and the MCU.
Many of these Wakanda Forever fan theories have come from something as small as the type of light a character is looking into in one shot. Some take their ideas too far for the evidence they have, but all of them are technically based in fact. And many even cite storylines from the comics, making them even more plausible.
Wakanda Forever may go down as a historic MCU film that has the potential to affect other projects, and we already know a few things it will give us: Namor, Ironheart, and a new Black Panther. But that’s not all. Fans have gone deep to get some of these sometimes near-impossible connections. Let’s take a look.
Shuri Is the New Black Panther... or Perhaps Sekhmet's Avatar
There’s even more to this than people think, and it’s bigger than just being the Black Panther, but let’s start with the basics first. The trailer opens with Shuri standing on a beach and looking into the ocean. Playing Shri is Letitia Wright, who is first on the IMDb cast list. And the one shot we get of a new Black Panther does seem to fit her body type. This theory has been strangely confirmed. Apparently, the new Wakanda Forever LEGO set has a Black Panther outfit for Shuri, so perhaps it’s all but written in stone.
Some fans, though, have thought up the interesting possibility that Shuri is not the new Black Panther but an avatar for a different Wakandan god. Marvel fans know that the Black Panther is the physical form of the god Bast, but T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) actually mentioned Sekhmet in Civil War as being the other half of the two gods which were paired with each other. Sekhmet is the more aggressive of the two and could possibly grant their power to Shuri in a way that Khonshu did for Moon Knight.
The idea comes from the male and female statues flanking either side of the funeral procession. One was identified as the very first Black Panther, and the other, the female avatar. She may be the very first heroin to accept the powers of Sekhmet.
The Midnight Angels, Doctor Doom, & Deadpool
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Another theory comes from Michaela Coel’s character, Aneka, and it’s a bit of a longshot. In the comics, Aneka left the Dora Milaje to form a group of elite warriors called the Midnight Angels. These women once teamed up with Deadpool to kill Doctor Doom in a storyline where he had stolen all of Wakanda’s vibranium. It’s a lot to think might happen from one two-second clip of Aneka.
The theory builds on the scene in the trailer where there is a secret deep-sea mining operation going on. This nighttime excursion to the bottom of the sea could have been organized by Victor Von Doom, who may be looking for resources to make a mask. But this could be the inciting incident that begins the Wakanda/Atlantis conflict. If Doom were ever caught or made a mistake (or even if he was successful), he would naturally shift the blame to the Wakandans, directing Namor’s anger towards the powerful nation and starting a war as he slipped away. Perhaps Aneka was on his trail, which led her back to Wakanda. This would be an excellent way to exonerate Namor and introduce Doctor Doom as a villain still working in the shadows.
Killmonger Is Black Panther
Another longshot is the possibility that Shuri resurrects Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) so that he could be Black Panther. He does technically have a biological claim to the throne and the mantle of Black Panther. The deep sea expedition mentioned before could have been to recover her cousin Killmonger’s body, which was buried at sea at his request in the first Black Panther. And, as Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) pointed out in Multiverse of Madness, you need a physical body to resurrect or return a spirit to.
The idea gains some ground when, in the trailer, Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett) says:
“I am queen of the most powerful nation in the world, and my entire family is gone.”
It’s tough to think that this means that Shuri, her youngest daughter, dies in the movie. It’s more likely that there is a moment when Shuri journeys to the Ancestral Realm. But for what reason? It could be to retrieve the soul of her cousin, Killmonger. But we think it’s more likely that she would go there to commune with Bast or pass the trials to become Black Panther herself. She is the current Black Panther in the comics, after all.
We will see which, if any, of these theories play out when Black Panther: Wakanda Forever releases in theaters on November 11, 2022.