Black Panther's solo big-screen debut came with an empowering message, a meticulously
crafted origin story… and not a whole lot of fan-friendly Easter eggs.
Wakanda is pretty isolated from the rest of the Marvel world in every sense, but there
were still a few details in Black Panther you may have picked up on... if you're a true
fan.
Spoilers ahead!
Oakland origins
While a disproportionate amount of the events within both the MCU and Marvel Comics takes
place in and around New York City, Black Panther switches things up a bit and brings audiences
to Oakland, California during the 1990s.
This sets up the tragic story of Eric Stevens, aka Killmonger, whose comic book origins have
roots in Harlem.
Switching Harlem to Oakland isn't accidental; director Ryan Coogler grew up in Oakland,
and it's also where the real-world Black Panther Party traces its origins.
Even though Marvel actively tried to distance itself from the organization by changing Black
Panther's name to Black Leopard for a brief period in the '70s, the politically-charged
choice of Oakland is undeniable.
That Public Enemy poster on the wall of N'Jobu's apartment confirms it.
Like T'Chaka, like son
Despite having limited screen time in both Civil War and Black Panther, T'Challa's father,
T'Chaka, has a huge influence in the MCU.
In both films, he's played by award-winning veteran actor John Kani… except when he
shows up in the 1990s at N'Jobu's apartment.
Rather than digitally de-age the elder actor and end up with a distracting Superman's Mustache
experience, Marvel hired John Kani's actual son, Atandwa Kani, to play T'Chaka as a young
man.
The younger actor strikes a pretty close image to his dad, so the casting choice was obvious.
Many masks
How do you fit the very important character of Man-Ape into a movie without relying on
all the problematic racial baggage that comes with him?
For starters, you don't call him Man-Ape, but use his given name, M'Baku.
And then you give him a primate mask anyhow, just in case no one made the connection between
him and the iconic comic character.
The hulking warrior from the comics does clash with T'Challa pretty often, but just like
in the MCU, they're able to put aside their differences now and again.
In the comics, it was for Black Panther's wedding to Storm.
As for the horned mask that Killmonger decides to steal from the museum, it doesn't have
an exact comic book counterpart, but it does bear some visual similarities to a mask Killmonger
dons in ritual combat in 2008's Black Panther #38.
But mostly, the MCU's Killmonger is a far cry from the comics, diverging in both goals
and backstory, even though both enjoy taking off their shirts.
Mercifully, the comic book Killmonger's taste for beating people with a spiked belt is also
not on display in the MCU, even if his love of waterfall-related murders is.
Remember Vine?
While shouting a reference to a meme isn't exactly a "small detail," here's a hint for
anyone not neck-deep in social media.
When Shuri questions T'Challa's choice of footwear by shouting "What are those?", it's
a reference to the very dankest of memes.
"Question for you…"
"What are thoooooose?"
At least it wasn't "Damn, Daniel", right?
Even teenagers in the utopia of Wakanda make very bad choices when it comes to Internet
usage.
Bonus shoe joke points go to dropping a reference to Back to the Future II's iconic self-lacing
shoes, even though Shuri's version of the sneakers gets a serious upgrade.
Neck tech
Marvel Comics' Black Panther made his on-page debut kicking the butts of the collective
Fantastic Four for fun, in nothing more than a sleek, simple, black outfit.
As time went on, his comic outfit hasn't really gone through too many changes, though Black
Panther would occasionally lose the cape, and choose different sets of thorny neck adornments.
Marvel's movies have given us pretty much the full assortment of Panther's costumes
already, and when Shuri shows him his different options for his latest and greatest crime-fighting
tech, each of those looks comes from a comic book era.
Tech (and magic) from the comics also includes those Kimoyo bead bracelets, which can make
phone calls, stabilize deadly wounds, and presumably stream entire seasons of Golden
Girls without buffering.
The heart-shaped herb also hails from the comics, as well as the ancestral plane to
which it sends those who consume it.
The Serkis is in town
Just how many outsiders do get into Wakanda?
Klaue claims that he's the only non-Wakandan to have ever seen the country, but that's
not quite true.
He's clearly unaware of Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War Prelude #1, which shows Shuri
slowly repairing the one-armed Bucky, both mentally and physically.
It won't be long before he gets a replacement arm, fresh from Wakanda, and gets back into
fighting shape by the time Thanos arrives.
The role that Wakanda plays in the battle against the Mad Titan remains to be seen,
but if Infinity War's trailers are any evidence, it's going to be a big one.
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