Black Panther director Ryan Coogler will be developing a new series
set in Wakanda on Disney+. Here are some stories Black Panther fans want to see in it.
Vibranium is the miraculous metal with sound-absorbing properties that is the basis
of both Wakanda's enormous wealth and its technological wizardry.
It's one of the most powerful substances on the planet. Almost all of it is in Wakanda,
and what little exists outside of it has already been enough to change the world.
"Cap's shield is made out of Vibranium. They made Vision's body out of it.
Black Panther's suit is made out of it."
The bulk of it crashed down to Earth in the form of a meteorite ages ago. The local warriors,
led by a man named Bashenga, fearlessly visited the site and discovered the
material's unique properties and set about using it to make weapons.
However, the strong radiation from the Vibranium mutated some of the tribesmen
into "Demon Spirits." Bashenga drew strength from the Panther God and defeated these menaces,
and his strength and leadership united all of the tribes and formed Wakanda.
Bashenga became the Black Panther, creating a dynasty that would last through the ages.
Considering that all of the Black Panther ancestors are accessible
through the trance-like communion in the Heart-Shaped Herb ceremony,
there's an easy way to bring this narrative into the modern day. Bashenga,
the discovery of Vibranium, and the founding of Wakanda could be its own extended story arc.
“It was built on a mound of the most valuable metal known to man. 'Isipho,'
they call it. The gift. Vibranium."
There is also an opportunity to introduce a number of new characters and
expand on the origins of each of the tribes. If Vibranium itself is the focus of the arc,
the story of how the Great Mound was sealed off, protected, and mined over the years and how that
affected local politics and culture has a lot of possibilities as well. The decision to hide
Wakanda's advanced nature from the rest of the world is another potential story of its own.
"This never gets old."
M'Baku was one of the breakout characters of the Black Panther movie.
The chieftain of the Jabari Tribe,
he challenges T'Challa for the kingship of Wakanda in ritual combat and loses.
Living in the mountains, the Jabari separated themselves from the other
tribes and were generally hostile. However, M'Baku comes to T'Challa's aid
when Killmonger steals the throne and even becomes a huge part of Wakanda's defense
when Thanos invades Earth. He also has a pretty good sense of humor.
"One more word, and I will feed you to my children."
"I am kidding, we are vegetarians."
In the comics, he is a much more sinister figure, as he directly tries to usurp the throne and
betrays T'Challa's friendship. Then he becomes a full-on supervillain,
taking on the power of the sacred White Gorilla. However, he always keeps his
Jabari tribesmen in mind and protects them even while he rejects the modernization of Wakanda.
"Witness the might of the Jabari, firsthand!"
One element from the comics that could be fruitful for M'Baku's story
is the introduction of his cousin, Chante Giovanni Brown,
a Jabari native who grew up in America. She dubbs herself "Queen Divine Justice" and grows up as a
normal American teenager until she is summoned home to become one of the new Dora Milaje.
This could all fit into M'Baku's story after the events of Avengers: Infinity War.
Did he have a hand in ruling Wakanda in T'Challa's absence? What role did the Jabari
have in the post-Thanos world? Fleshing out the Jabari society and history as they adjust
to becoming a more active part of Wakanda could be an entire story arc of its own.
T'Challa's father T'Chaka was the last Wakandan king to hide how advanced the nation was from
the rest of the world. As advanced as his anti-surveillance technology was,
even he had difficulty keeping out all invaders,
especially when betrayed by one of his own. T'Chaka established a worldwide
network of Wakandan spies and operatives and sent his brother N'Jobu to America.
Seeing racial injustice in America and beyond, N'Jobu rejected Wakanda's noninterference policies
and worked with the mercenary Ulysses Klaue to steal Vibranium. N'Jobu compromised the
existence of Wakanda in order to get what he wanted, forcing T'Chaka's hand as he killed him.
T'Chaka leaving behind N'Jobu's son N'Jadaka, aka Erik Killmonger, to be raised as an orphan
was a questionable moral decision. This raises the question: What other tough decisions did
T'Chaka make during his reign? How did he shape the Wakanda that T'Challa inherited?
"I am sure you did what is right for Wakanda.
You always do. You are a great king, Baba. And that is why you will always reign."]
T'Chaka demonstrated that he was willing to kill a member of his own family
in order to protect his country, so who else did he have to kill,
especially as superheroes and villains started appearing? How aware was T'Chaka of beings like
the Eternals? How much did he teach T'Challa as he was growing up, and how much did he keep hidden?
What was his relationship with his wife, Queen Ramonda , like? There could be a great deal
of backstory established for modern-day Wakanda as T'Chaka's life is explored.
Nakia was introduced in Black Panther as a spy and T'Challa's on-again, off-again lover.
"Hi."
This was a sharp break from the comics, where Nakia was one of two Dora Milaje,
but her obsession with T'Challa eventually warped into her becoming the deadly assassin
Malice. The Nakia of the MCU is a far nobler soul,
but they barely scratched the surface of her character in the movie.
A story arc following Nakia's career undercover would be fascinating,
starting with what led her to choose a career that took her outside Wakanda so often.
Her desire to make a difference in other countries by infiltrating
and destroying human trafficking rings, for example, revealed her overall goals.
"I can't be happy knowing that there's people out there who have nothing."
What other kinds of missions did she carry out? The idea that she was especially keen
on protecting women and children worldwide is a fascinating one because of her willingness
to put herself into compromising situations. Another question to answer would be how and if
she had to make tough ethical decisions with regard to perhaps pretending to be part of a
corrupt organization or assassinating its leaders. Only the vaguest details of her
career have been revealed, and this could have direct relevance to her current life in the MCU.
Revealing what happened to Nakia after Thanos disappeared T'Challa and half of creation for
five years would make for a fascinating story arc. Is she still advancing humanitarian
interests as part of a new Wakanda? Or have hard times made her an ever harder person?
The story of the lovers Ayo and Aneka was explored in detail
in the World of Wakanda series, and it could easily be adapted for television.
Both were members of the Dora Milaje who found themselves rebelling against the monarchy.
Aneka killed a village chief who was abusing women, but killing him was still forbidden.
Aneka was sentenced to death. Ayo pleaded to Queen Ramonda on Aneka's behalf,
and while Ramonda was sympathetic, she chose to follow the law to its letter. Ayo freed Aneka,
and they stole high-tech Midnight Angels armor.
Fleeing the city, they helped Jabari tribeswomen and started routing bandits
who were abusing women. Taking in these women, they became their own self-styled Dora Milaje.
They made an alliance with the Jabari and another breakaway group,
the People, even though their motives seemed questionable. At the urging of Shuri,
they helped defeat the People's attempt at overthrowing T'Challa. In response,
T'Challa declared Wakanda to be a democracy, remaining king but only in a representative role.
In the wake of the power vacuum of T'Challa being snapped from existence in the MCU,
this is a story that could be adapted even more readily. A Wakanda without the strong
influence of T'Challa is one that could lapse into abuse. Seeing a story where
justice and freedom butt up against regimented traditions is one that would be deeply resonant,
and the love story between Ayo and Aneka would add another dimension to Wakandan lore.
In the comics, the Hatut Zeraze, also known as the "Dogs of War",
were the Wakandan secret police. King T'Chaka used them extensively
to repel invaders and assassinate political enemies across the globe.
They were led by Hunter, the "White Wolf," who wore armor similar to T'Challa's,
only all in white. The Hatut Zeraze wore similar armor and carried heavy ordnance
as soldiers and assassins. Hunter was T'Challa's adopted brother. King T'Chaka
found him as an infant after he was in a plane crash and raised him as his own son.
Being Caucasian, Hunter wasn't fully accepted by many other Wakandans,
and he grew up jealous of T'Challa. The Black Panther exiled Hunter and the Hatut Zeraze when
he became king because he had no interest in using an assassination squad. Hunter later went on to,
on separate occasions, both provide aid to T'Challa, and attempt to kill him.
None of these characters have been introduced in the MCU, but it's not much of a leap to introduce
them, given the movie T'Chaka's demonstrated willingness to kill enemies of the state. Given
a destabilized Wakanda, introducing Hunter and bringing him out of exile in an effort
to seize power and "bring order" could make him a powerful villain in the Wakanda series.
Like all of the best villains, he sees himself as a hero. Like his adopted father,
he sees himself as being someone who can make hard decisions when no one else can.
One of the greatest villains of Christopher Priest's run on Black Panther was the Reverend
Doctor Michael Ibn al-Hajj Achebe . A native of Wakandan neighbor Ghudaza , he was a simple
farmer until rebels from another country came. He nursed them back to health, but his wife fell in
love with their leader. They left Achebe for dead and thirsting for vengeance. He made a deal with
the devil Mephisto , took bloody vengeance, and then went to America and got an education at Yale.
Achebe had his eye on Wakanda and its resources and manipulated politics to stoke a civil war
that forced refugees into Wakanda. He manipulated T'Challa into going to America
and tried to take the crown, but T'Challa severed Achebe's relationship with Mephisto and
beat him. Of course, Achebe became even more unhinged, designing demented death traps
for the Panther and talking to a hand puppet named Daki . Achebe's twisted sense of humor
and grandiose personality make him a perfect foil to the cool, calculating Black Panther.
Like Hunter and the Hatut Zeraze, Achebe could be a perfect villain in a destabilized Wakanda.
Without having to deal with T'Challa, he could easily try to become a demented populist leader,
a twisted advisor to whoever's in power, a cult leader, or any number of other roles.
The Panther Cult and the White Gorilla Cult aren't the only religions in Wakanda. Indeed,
many of the tribes worshipped their own gods.
Sekhmet , the Lion God, was originally an Egyptian deity who tried to establish a
presence in Wakanda. Unlike the Panther God, who only appeared to his priests,
the Lion God freely appeared before humans. However, her violent nature didn't exactly
make her a popular candidate for worship. She even attacked T'Challa directly in an
attempt to gain the Panther God's secrets, but she was defeated.
The Panther Cult was created by the Egyptian goddess Bast.
Other gods, such as Sobek the Crocodile God, also had their followers in Wakanda.
This history of clashing gods could all inspire a mystical and magical arc on the Wakanda show,
as various sects new and old challenge the Panther Cult for control of the soul of Wakanda.
Even if it's in the background, the show should certainly explore the many religions
represented in this rich and expansive fictional world.
In the comics, Wakanda and Atlantis went from having a tense coexistence to outright war. King
T'Chaka allied himself briefly with Prince Namor the Sub-Mariner in a battle against the Nazis,
although he still kept Wakanda a secret from the rest of the world.
T'Chaka knew Namor was a loose cannon and kept an eye on him. When T'Challa became king, he nearly
got into a war with Atlantis over a territory that both claimed, but cooler heads prevailed.
Later, in a conflict between the Avengers and X-Men,
Namor turned against his old teammates and tracked them to Wakanda. He used his
temporary Phoenix-force powers to wipe out much of Wakanda. Later, when Shuri was queen of Wakanda,
she retaliated by destroying Atlantis. Namor got revenge by setting Thanos on Wakanda,
telling him that the Wakandans held an Infinity Stone. Things simply went too far.
Namor and Atlantis have yet to be introduced in the MCU. The Black Panther franchise would
be a great launching point. There's even what one might consider an allusion to Atlantis in
Avengers: Endgame, when Okoye refers to an underwater earthquake near Wakanda.
"Do we have a visual? How are we handling it?" "Nat.
It's an earthquake under the ocean. We handle it by not handling it."
Namor would make a powerful anti-hero in the MCU,
being a generally noble figure who has good reason to be angry at the surface world,
easily turning from antagonist to hero over the course of a single storyline.
T'Challa's mother Queen Ramonda was a somewhat underserved character in Black Panther.
She was there to see her son named as king and then traveled to the land of
the Jabari in an effort to heal him. The Wakanda series could go into much greater
depth regarding her character. How tuned in was she regarding the activities of her husband
T'Chaka? Did she approve of him killing his brother in order to preserve Wakandan secrets?
More interesting than that is what Ramonda did when both T'Challa and Shuri disappeared for
five years. Okoye took her place as one of the Avengers, but what role did Ramonda play in this?
Was she the default monarch of Wakanda? Did she have to fend off attempts at the crown?
Seeing her having to deal with the Hatut Zeraze, Achebe,
Prince Namor, and other threats could reveal a heretofore-unseen killer instinct in Ramonda.
The show could also spotlight her own agency as a queen. What was she like
growing up? How did she meet T'Chaka, and when did they marry? What did she do before that?
How does she see Wakanda expanding in the future? All these questions,
and more, are on the table for the upcoming Wakanda series on Disney+.
"And, action!" "Wakanda forever!" "Wakanda forever." "Wakanda forever, we're still rolling!"
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