The biggest question leading into the release of Marvel's superhero blockbuster Black Panther
was: can it possibly live up to the massive amount of hype?
Well, that question has been answered with a resounding yes, as millions of ecstatic
fans around the world can attest.
But as great as the film is, there are some other questions it never quite got around
to addressing.
So grab your vibranium and hold on tight, because here's a spoiler-filled look at some
of the biggest unanswered questions in Black Panther.
Why didn't they bring the kid to Wakanda?
After King T'Chaka kills his brother, he heads home to Wakanda, leaving his suddenly orphaned
nephew Erik behind in Oakland.
This ends up being a terrible mistake, as the embittered boy grows up to become the
conquering invader Killmonger.
Sure, hindsight is 20-20, but you have to ask: why did T'Chaka leave the boy behind?
In the film, it's said multiple times that he did it to protect the veil of secrecy surrounding
Wakanda.
But how exactly would adopting an orphaned little boy threaten national security?
It doesn't seem like anybody in Oakland would have missed him, and bringing the child — and
his father's body — back to Wakanda would have tied up loose ends instead of leaving
them.
Plus, it's just the right thing to do.
Leaving the boy behind is a real head-scratcher — not to mention a total jerk move.
Is T'Challa the last Black Panther?
In a pivotal scene, after Killmonger becomes the new king of Wakanda, he orders the botanists
in the garden of heart-shaped herbs to burn the country's entire supply of the magic plant
that gives their monarchs the power of the Black Panther.
So does that actually mean that T'Challa is the last of the Black Panthers?
The comics tell us that the super-plants exist in the first place because vibranium mutates
the local flora — so wouldn't the presence of a massive mountain of vibranium mean it
would just… create more?
Plus, Nakia shows just how easy to simply walk out the door with one in your pocket,
so there could be a supply pretty much anywhere.
But is there?
Or is this the end of the Black Panther legacy?
We just don't know enough about how the whole Black Panther thing works to say.
Speaking of which…
How does the whole Black Panther thing work?
So, according to the movie, the powers of the Panther-goddess Bast are bestowed upon
the reigning monarch of Wakanda after they eat the magic heart-shaped herb.
Then the monarch is buried alive while their spirit travels to the afterlife to commune
with the spirits of their ancestors, before being reborn as…the Black Panther!
One big question, though: in Captain America: Civil War, it seems as though T'Challa has
already become Black Panther before his father's death, something verified by the official
prequel comics.
So who exactly can become Black Panther?
The movie suggests only the king is allowed to eat the heart-shaped herb, but that's clearly
not true.
It doesn't seem hereditary either, considering the kingship is sometimes determined by ritual
combat and not bloodlines.
So can anyone become Black Panther if the king appoints them to the role?
And if so, doesn't it seem negligent for the nation's supreme leader to be constantly courting
death by battling supervillains, instead of delegating that responsibility to someone
more expendable?
This is one area where we're more confused than before the movie started.
What does vibranium actually do?
It's supposed to be the hardest metal in the world.
But vibranium also seems to have magic powers, like mutating the plants in Wakanda, and enabling
Wakandan technology to do all sorts of random things that, well, maybe don't make much sense.
For instance, how does jamming a wad of vibranium into an open gunshot wound stabilize a spinal
injury?
It seems as though vibranium's main property is covering over plot holes, which makes it
a very valuable resource indeed.
And then there's that suit...
Does every Marvel hero need a super suit?
Thanks to the heart-shaped herb, Black Panther possesses inhuman speed, agility, strength,
and stamina.
Yet over the course of Black Panther, most of the major butt-kicking moves he pulls off
during the fight scenes are possible because he's wearing a technologically advanced super
suit that allows him to stop bullets and then redirect the absorbed kinetic energy into
concussive blasts.
Which would be totally cool in Iron Man 4.
But does every single Marvel hero need a super suit?
It's fine for Iron Man and War Machine.
And Ant-Man.
And the Wasp.
And the Falcon.
But when Marvel sticks characters like Spider-Man and Black Panther into super suits, it all
starts to feel very samey-samey.
And ironically, the most compelling and gripping fights in Black Panther are the ritual challenges
where T'Challa is stripped of his powers and gizmos.
So why does Marvel insist on giving everyone these super suits?
T'Challa seems pretty super without it, y'know.
How does Wakanda function?
According to the movie, Wakanda has been isolated for centuries, hiding itself away to make
sure nobody else gets any of its precious vibranium.
But if they're unwilling to trade their most valuable resource, where do they get… everything
else?
Sure, vibranium can do all sorts of amazing things, but you can't build an entire technologically
superior society out of one rock...can you?
They seem to have a massive amount of wealth, but where does it come from if they really
are as isolated as they claim to be?
And if they're so peaceful and insular, why exactly do they have enclaves of highly trained
spies and soldiers secretly stationed in all the major centers of the world?
And not just major centers — they have so many "war dogs" around the world that they
even have a base in Oakland, which isn't even among the top one-thousand largest cities
in the world.
So why does Wakanda really have such an extensive worldwide military operation?
Now what?
Maybe the biggest question left unanswered from Black Panther is one they never intended
to answer in this movie.
Namely, what comes next?
We know from the trailer to Avengers: Infinity War that Thanos is going to attack Wakanda
— presumably because an Infinity Stone is there, or somehow ends up there.
We also know from the trailer that Captain America and a team of Avengers are on hand
in Wakanda when this happens.
So how does that all come about?
And what's going to happen to T'Challa and Wakanda?
Is their big push to become an open nation going to end before it even gets a chance
to start?
Or are they just going to be left sharing a huge pile of rubble?
It seems there's only one way to find out, and all we can say is that we can't wait to
see what unanswered questions are still left after we watch Avengers: Infinity War — and
Black Panther 2.
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