‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’: Marvel considered these characters to be the new Black Panther

SPOILERS WARNING!

*If you haven’t seen “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” yet, read no further! Let’s review some of the most notable events in the film.

On November 11, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” was released, the last Marvel Studios film of this 2022 and the one in charge of closing Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Following the death of Chadwick Boseman, the actor who played T’Challa in the MCU, one of the biggest unknowns behind “Black Panther 2” was which character would continue the Wakandan hero’s legacy. In the project we had the answer, but Joe Robert Cole, co-writer of the film, revealed that several possibilities were contemplated.

As we saw in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”, It was Shuri who, after a story arc that showed us her way of accepting the pain caused by the loss of her brother, became the new Black Panther, but Cole explained in an interview with Rolling Stone that they were taken into consideration other options.: “We looked at ideas and tried to figure out where the story is going and what’s the most impactful choice: what’s the best journey? And where do you go after the movie in terms of characters? M’Baku (Winston Duke) was someone who We’ve considered a little bit. We’ve considered all kinds of ideas. And you just want to make the best decision and do what’s best for the story.” In the same interview, she said that Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) was also a candidate.

Despite evaluating several alternatives, producer Nate Moore explained to Yahoo Movies that it was clear Shuri was the best possible option: “It’s interesting, because we’re aware of the conversations on the internet. But I’m also a huge fan of comics. If you think about it, it was kind of inevitable. And when you think about it narratively, with the story that we were telling, she she’s the one most affected by T’Challa’s death and maybe the only one with the tools to take back the mantle of Black Panther, because if you remember the first film, Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) had destroyed all the weed in the form since heart, so from a narrative point of view it made sense. And from a purist’s point of view, I think that’s really the only option. Letitia Wright nails it. And Shuri’s transition from where he starts to where he ends in this film tells the story of why he should be Black Panther.”

Little T’Challa

One of the big surprises of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” was the revelation of the existence of T’Challa and Nakia’s son in the post-credit scene. He opens up many possibilities for the future and one of them is his fate as Black Panther. T’Challa’s son, named after him, and grandson of the new Black Panther, will always be in conversations about how he’ll wear the suit one day. In the future we will know, what we know is this the introduction of this new character was planned before Boseman’s death, it wasn’t an idea that came up as a result of his death. Cole revealed that the idea of ​​introducing T’Challa’s son was in the old version of the script.. They studied different ways to make his first big screen appearance, one of them was to introduce him in the scene where Ramonda goes to Haiti, but in the end they decided to leave it for the post-credits scene and he thinks it was for the best. For his part and reaffirming Cole’s words, Ryan Coogler, director of the film, shared that the original script was about T’Challa becoming a father.

While Marvel Studios hasn’t talked about it, several Wakanda-focused projects are known to be in development, Coogler himself recently stated that they were still in the very early stages. We could see in them the growth and development of little T’Challa from a boy to a man. We would witness the journey of a hero, the birth of a new Black Panther.

‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ it is available in cinemas.