Marvel's Black Panther has made its theatrical debut, and moviegoers couldn't be more excited.
As one of the MCU's few superheroes not played by a dude named Chris, the Black Panther is
a powerful new addition to Marvel's roster of on-screen heroes, and he brings an entire
country of awesome sci-fi tech and culture with him.
But now that the credits have rolled and your vibranium suit is all out of energy, there's
still something we gotta talk about: that ending.
While the plot wrapped up without much in the way of loose ends, there are still plenty
of questions we can ask about what it all means.
And of course...
...spoilers ahead.
What's next for Wakanda?
Killmonger's insurrection caused some sharp divisions among the four united tribes of
Wakanda — the Border Tribe played a particularly nasty role in supporting Killmonger's plan
to send vibranium weapons all over the world.
The end of the film saw W'Kabi surrender to Okoye after a battle between the Border Tribe,
the Mountain Tribe, and Okoye's warriors.
Peace is restored to Wakanda, right?
Or is it?
We know that the King of Wakanda is the absolute monarch of the country, since Killmonger was
able to completely reverse the nation's isolationist policies with the snap of a finger.
But even with an absolute monarchy, the people being governed still need to be cool with
the person in charge.
Now that the Border Tribe openly rebelled against T'Challa, what's their status with
the country itself?
And since M'Baku and the Mountain Tribe came to T'Challa's rescue, does that meant that
they'll be involved in running the country going forward?
While we don't know any of the answers to these questions now, it seems that the political
intrigue going on within Wakanda's borders has only just started.
Wakanda and the world
At the end of the movie, T'Challa decides to open his nation up to the world after centuries
of isolation.
It's a logical decision considering the consequences of his father's decision to leave young Erik
Stevens, who grows up to become the usurper Killmonger, in Oakland.
By sharing its technology and science with the rest of the globe, Wakanda will undoubtedly
have a major effect on, well, everything.
Will we see those effects take place in some way in future MCU movies?
Or would that move the cinematic universe a little too far from our own to still be
relatable?
It'll be interesting to see how — or if — other MCU movies decide to tackle this
new continuity wrinkle.
Though, there is one probable application of this new super-science…
Marvelous medicine
When Agent Everett Ross took a bullet for Nakia, he severely injured his spine.
But after spending one night in Wakanda and receiving medical treatment, he was fully
healed.
That probably means James Rhodes, better known as War Machine, may be paying a visit to Shuri's
lab to get his own spine fixed up after he was shot with a laser beam and slammed into
the ground in Captain America: Civil War.
We already know Shuri's hard at work at rehabilitating Bucky.
Why wouldn't Rhodie get the same treatment?
We've seen the War Machine armor in action in Wakanda during the trailer for Infinity
War, so it's a good bet that Rhodes will be up and at'em by the time that movie drops,
all thanks to that wacky Wakandan health care system.
A vibranium arsenal in the offing
We've known about that miraculous metal vibranium since Steve Rogers first got his shield in
Captain America: The First Avenger.
But outside of having a cool name and being pretty tough, we haven't known much about
what the stuff can actually do — until now.
Killmonger's plan to send powerful weapons to agents all over the world may have been
a pretty mean plan for world domination, but it also gave us our first glimpse into how
powerful Wakanda's weapons can be.
That means that when Thanos and his horde of alien super-jerks show up on Earth in Infinity
War, humanity will have a fighting chance thanks to King T'Challa and his army.
Coming to America
In addition to starting the super-tech exchange in America, we see T'Challa spending some
time outside of Wakanda at the movie's end.
Surely with his newfound appreciation for helping others outside of Wakanda's borders
we can expect to see the Black Panther spend some time fighting bad guys in the United
States, right?
It's entirely possible that Black Panther 2 might show T'Challa's quest to understand
the rest of the world now that he's looking to make Wakanda a member of the international
community.
And if Wakanda is looking to influence other countries, it goes without saying that some
of that influence will come back the other way.
Sure, Wakanda has amazing super-suits and techno-cars...but just wait 'til they try
Dippin' Dots!
Wakanda will never be the same.
The future of the MCU
Above all else, the end of Black Panther shows that Marvel can find a way to stick superheroes
into just about any story you can imagine.
We've already seen a super-powered heist in Ant-Man, and a superhero spy story in Captain
America: The Winter Soldier, while Thor Ragnarok was basically a...well...look, it's not really
clear what the hell Thor Ragnarok was, but it was really awesome.
"YES!"
Black Panther is many things — an Afrofuturist sci-fi epic, a Shakespearean family drama,
a poignant commentary on racial divisions and colonization — but it's also an engaging
and engrossing adventure that takes conventional movie wisdom and chucks it out the window.
Marvel's decision to finally buck the trend of making movies starring "dudes named Chris"
means this is just the beginning.
Don't be surprised to see even more characters pulled from Marvel Comics' deep roster of
heroes hailing from all different backgrounds and origins before too long.
And that raises one important question: just how long do we have to wait to see Kamala
Khan get her own movie?
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