Who is the new Black Panther? T’Challa’s replacement in Wakanda Forever explained
Disney/MarvelWith Black Panther: Wakanda Forever now on streaming, we know the identity of T’Challa’s replacement in the MCU. Here we explain why and how that transfer of power happens.
The tragic death of Chadwick Boseman at the age of just 43 meant director Ryan Coogler and his co-writer Joe Robert Cole had to completely rethink their plans for the proposed sequel.
There was talk of finding a new actor to play T’Challa. Or ending the franchise there and then. But ultimately, the decision was taken to have the Black Panther mantle passed onto a new warrior.
So we’ll list the key candidates below, before moving onto details of who ultimately becomes the new Black Panther. But first, an explanation of why Boseman wasn’t replaced. So SPOILERS BELOW…
Why Chadwick Boseman wasn’t replaced as T’Challa
Speaking to Empire Magazine about the decision to have a new Black Panther rather than a new T’Challa, Marvel boss Kevin Feige said it was too soon to recast the character.
“Stan Lee always said that Marvel represents the world outside your window,” Feige told Empire. “And we had talked about how, as extraordinary and fantastical as our characters and stories are, there’s a relatable and human element to everything we do. The world is still processing the loss of Chad. And Ryan [Coogler] poured that into the story.”
“The conversations were entirely about, yes, ‘What do we do next?’ and how could the legacy of Chadwick – and what he had done to help Wakanda and the Black Panther become these incredible, aspirational, iconic ideas – continue? That’s what it was all about.”
Who is the new Black Panther?
Shuri is the new Black Panther. There was speculation that mighty Jabari warrior M’Baku (Winston Duke) might take the mantle. Or fierce Dora Milaje general Okoye (Danai Gurira) would get the gig. But ultimately, it stays in the family, with T’Challa’s sister becoming the new Black Panther.
Shuri is played by Letitia Wright, and Marvel boss Kevin Feige said this to Variety about the decision: “Letitia was hired because she, No. 1, was a great actor, but No. 2, she provided a levity to the film. Now the entire weight of the movie and of the kingdom of Wakanda was on her shoulders in the next movie in a way that obviously no one expected.”
Shuri begins the film desperately trying to save her brother, but T’Challa ultimately dies from an undisclosed illness. She then spends much of the movie angry that he suffered in silence before his death. And guilty that she could do nothing to heal him.
But as the story of the sequel progresses – and the threat to Wakanda from Namor becomes more serious – it becomes clear that a new Black Panther is needed. Following the death of her mother Queen Ramonda at the hands of the film’s villain, Shuri decides to step up with the words “My brother is dead, but that doesn’t mean the Black Panther is gone.”
How does Shuri become the new Black Panther?
Shuri becomes the new Black Panther by consuming a synthesised Heart-Shaped Herb, infused with T’Challa’s DNA.
Normally the potential Panther would then be buried in the ground, but due to the unconventional nature of the ceremony – and fear that she’ll go into cardiac arrest – Shuri remains in her lab so she can be monitored.
Shuri then enters then Astral Dimension, where on the Astral Plane she encounters… Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan), villain from the first film. During their heated conversation, Killmonger suggests that the Black Panthers before him were all cowards, and that the pair of them are alike, a claim Shuri denies. “Are you going to be noble like your brother?” Killmonger asks. “Or take care of business, like me?”
Shuri wakes up, and is now the Black Panther. The remainder of the movie explores the battle raging inside her – to be noble like T’Challa, or let the quest for revenge consume her, like Killmonger.
More Black Panther: Wakanda Forever…
