Sean Marshall Last Saturday, Marvel fans were treated to an emotional & powerful teaser trailer for this year’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. In this trailer, we saw Namor & the Atlantians attacking Wakanda, the funeral for T’Challa, some intense fights & finally, a tease at the new Black Panther. But even with all of this being shown, some moviegoers are still confused about what’s going on & how this film being the last in Phase 4, will catapult us into Phase 5’s Multiverse Saga.
Now some may think they know everything that’s going to happen in this film since a supposed “leaked script” of the film hit the internet, but I haven’t looked at that, nor will I take this leak as being 100% factual.
The film will focus on Namor’s childhood & what caused the shift between the Atlanteans & the people of Wakanda. The trailer shows us quick shots of Namor’s birth, as a child standing in front of what looks like a burning colonial house & him as an adult emerging from the water in Wakanda. Since the emergence of mutants was teased in the last episode of the Disney+ Ms. Marvel series, we should expect them to show how the Atlanteans view Namor as being the first mutant & with him sharing both human & Atlantean blood.
Namor’s past won’t be the only one explored. There’s a possibility that we can also see T’Challa’s childhood fleshed out. Could we see T’Challa & Namor interact with each other as kids? Maybe a fight took place between T’Challa & Namor when they were kids & T’Challa won, making it so the Atlanteans had to remain below the ocean forever? I’m spitballing here, but having them fight as kids could calm some fans who feel robbed that we won’t see T’Challa & Namor fight as adults in this film. Namor’s attack on Wakanda might be due to some hatred towards or fear of T’Challa & now, after hearing that he has died, Namor goes all out on Wakanda, knowing there’s no Black Panther to protect them.
I think a powerful way to flesh out T’Challa’s childhood would be to have them take center through Shuri having flashbacks of their time together as kids. This would make the buildup to her possibly becoming the new Black Panther that much stronger & emotional.
For some time, rumors have circulated that Okoye was supposed to be gay in this upcoming film. Even though I don’t think this will happen, I believe there will be representation here & that LGBTQ characters will be Michaela Cole’s Aneka & Florence Kasumba’s Ayo. In the comics, Aneka & Ayo leave the Dora Milaje & become Midnight Angels, a subgroup of the Dora Milaje. I believe we’ll see how events between the first film & Endgame led to their separation from the Dora Milaje, or the split might happen in this film due to Wakanda’s infighting after T’Challa’s passing.
With Aneka confirmed in the Black Panther sequel, Marvel might have already confirmed the presence of Doom in this film. Yes, Aneka was an instructor for the Dora Milaje, who trained the Dora Milaje in techniques that could defeat robots in 
preparation for the Doomwar. The Doomwar was a comic series released in 2010 that centered on Doctor Doom & the Desturi, an ultra-conservative, xenophobic group of Wakandans that wanted to return to their old isolationist ways & their political takeover of Wakanda for its Vibranium. Also, in this series, Namor tried to convince T’Challa to join Norman Osborn’s Cabal, a secret society of villains & antiheroes created to counter the Illuminati. T’Challa declined to join & was beaten into a coma by Doom’s forces, which led to Shuri becoming the new Black Panther to protect Wakanda.
Most fans walked away from the teaser trailer talking about that scene showing an unknown character in the Black Panther suit at the end. Some say it’s Shuri because of her temporarily becoming the Black Panther in the Doomwar series, but others think this is the return of Erik Killmonger mainly due to the black & gold colors on the costume. Of course, some are shutting down the theory because of Killmonger dying at the end of the first film, but I’d like to think there’s a way around this. Killmonger can return by the Resurrection Altar, which in the comics is a place in Wakanda of great power where one can raise the dead through ritual sacrifice.
Resurrecting Killmonger & having him become the new Black Panther would be a solid idea. We could see a Killmonger that has grown spiritually & mentally in the Astral Plane return to defend Wakanda truly. We could also see more than one Black Panther protecting Wakanda moving forward. Why not have Killmonger & Shuri? I noticed in the teaser trailer during T’Challa’s funeral that two statues are behind the dancers in front of the City of the Dead (Hall of the Kings). One of the statues is a male with a panther in front of it & the other statue is a female with a panther in front of it. Could this be a nod that at one time, a husband & wife or brother & sister ruled & protected Wakanda? Maybe Shuri will resurrect her cousin & the two will protect Wakanda as Black Panthers, or Shuri will be the one to pick up where T’Challa left off & become the new Black Panther.
Even if Marvel goes in a completely different direction from where we’d like to see it go, we’re sure that Coogler & Fiege have created something great with this sequel.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will hit theaters on November 11th & will be directed by Ryan Coogler, who co-wrote the screenplay with Joe Robert Cole. The film stars Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, Florence Kasumba, Dominique Thorne, Michaela Coel, Tenoch Huerta, Martin Freeman, & Angela Bassett.
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