Black Panther: Wakanda Foreverout on Friday, brings audiences back to Wakanda for the first time since 2018. Viewers were first introduced to the Black Panther character in 2016. Captain America: Civil War when King T’Chaka showed his support for the Sokovian Accords, which he later agreed to sign. This agreement stated that the United Nations would control the Avengers and other superheroes. A terrorist attack at the signing killed T’Chaka and T’Challa, played by the late Chadwick Boseman, set out to avenge his father. In 2018, independent black Panther film brought Wakanda and its inhabitants to the rest of the world.
Wakanda is one of the most critical settings of the Marvel Cinematic Universe – as established at the beginning of black Panther, a meteorite made of vibranium, one of the most powerful metals in the universe, crashed there, providing the opportunity to create one of the most technologically advanced civilizations in the world. The people of Wakanda have long taken an isolationist stance when it comes to sharing their technology and vibranium with other countries. black Panther begins by showing the many riches of Wakanda.
Here’s what to remember before watching the latest Marvel movie, Wakanda forever.
Letitia Wright inside Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Marvel Studios
The plot of black Panther
The film opens with an explanation of how a meteorite made of vibranium, believed to be a gift from the Panther god Bast, crashes into Wakanda. The meteorite mutates a plant called heart-shaped herb that is ingested by one of the warriors and gives him superpowers. He becomes the first Black Panther and is a great unifier of all the tribes in Wakanda except one, the Jabari, who live in the mountains.
To avoid sharing resources or information with other countries, Wakanda disguises itself as a poor country, hiding that they have built a sprawling metropolis. A flashback to 1992 shows King T’Chaka visiting his brother N’Jobu in Oakland, California, who is undercover. T’Chaka accuses him of helping Ulysses Klaue, a black market arms dealer, steal vibranium from Wakanda. N’Jobu’s right-hand man had lied to him and revealed that he was a Wakandan named Zuri.
In the present day, after T’Chaka’s death, viewers are introduced to T’Challa just before his coronation, which involves a ceremonial event where every tribe in Wakanda can battle T’Challa for the throne. M’Baku, played by Winston Duke, of the Jabari tribe challenges him, but eventually M’Baku relents and T’Challa becomes king of Wakanda.
T’Challa, given the heart-shaped herb by Zuri, ingests it and is able to visit an ancestral plane where he can speak with his father, and after their conversation, he officially takes the throne and becomes the Black Panther. In London, Eric Stevens steals a Wakandan artifact made of vibranium from a museum and gives it to Klaue. The people of Wakanda are warned that an artifact has been stolen by Klaue and will be sold to an unknown merchant in South Korea. T’Challa, Okoye – the general of the Wakandan army, the Dora Milaje – and his ex-girlfriend Nakia go to South Korea to stop the deal. When they get there, CIA agent Everett Ross is revealed as the buyer and promises to hand Klaue over to T’Challa once the US captures him and “is done with him”. But T’Challa refuses and captures Klaue.
Read more: There’s a gaping hole at the center of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever—and it’s nobody’s fault
Klaue escapes with the help of Stevens. He then kills Klaue and takes his plane to Wakanda. Once there, Stevens interrupts a council meeting and reveals that he is the son of N’Jobu, who was killed by T’Chaka the night he visited Oakland in 1992. He blames Wakanda for his selfishness because the black people of the world were suppressed for years and never did anything to help. He challenges T’Challa to a duel for the throne, and after some argument, he submits. Without Black Panther’s power, T’Challa is defeated in battle and thrown over the edge of a waterfall, making Stevens-Killmonger the king of Wakanda. He orders the people of Wakanda to burn the entire heart-shaped herb so that only he can possess the powers of the Black Panther. But Nakia is able to steal one.
Nakia takes Queen Ramonda, Princess Shuri, and Agent Ross to the Jabari people in the mountains, where M’Baku reveals that a fisherman found T’Challa’s body. Nakia gives T’Challa a heart-shaped herb. He fights and eventually kills Killmonger and eventually restores his place as king of Wakanda.
The film ends with T’Challa making Shuri the head of the Wakandan International Outreach Center in Oakland so that Wakanda can share its science and technology, and Wakanda joining the United Nations with a fiery speech from T’Challa.
Chadwick Boseman in Black Panther.
Marvel Studios/Disney—AP
Endless War and End of the game
Avengers: Infinity War shows the antagonist Thanos traveling the universe collecting the Infinity Stones for the Infinity Gauntlet so he can get rid of half the population of Earth to solve the overpopulation problem. One of the last stones that Thanos had to collect was the mind stone that was implanted in Vision. To help retrieve the stone without killing him, the Avengers took Vision to Wakanda. Thanos found out where they were and an all-out war raged across Wakanda with heroes from different titles fighting together to protect the Vision. Eventually, Thanos took the stone from Vision, killed him, snapped his fingers, and half the population turned to dust, including T’Challa and half the Wakandan army.
Avengers: Endgame I saw the other half of the population struggle with the loss of loved ones. The rest of the Avengers come together and in one of the most epic battles in the MCU towards the end of the film, they manage to bring back all the people who were victims of “The Blip”, including the Wakandans and T’Challa.
The death of Boseman
In August 2020, it was announced that Boseman had died after a private battle with colon cancer. He has never spoken about the diagnosis publicly, but according to The Hollywood Reporter, a handful of people outside his family knew about the disease. Director Ryan Coogler said The Hollywood Reporter that he was in the middle of writing the sequel when Boseman died. “You have to move on when you lose loved ones,” Coogler said. “I know Chad wouldn’t want us to stop.”
There was public outcry over what to do next, but Disney said they would take their time and figure out how to proceed. In December 2020, Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios, announced during a presentation for Disney investors that Boseman’s character would not be recast and the sequel would “honor the legacy that Chad helped us build through his portrayal of the King of Wakanda. We want to continue to explore the world and all the rich and diverse characters introduced in the first film.”
More election coverage from TIME