The film opens with a voice from a young boy,
asking his father to tell him a story.
The adults voice tells the story of "Vibranium."
A gigantic meteorite with the toughest metal: vibranium, crashed in the regions of the sources
of the Nile river, "millions" of years ago and it affected the plants.
Later, in the age of humans, five tribes in the land named Wakanda battled for control
of that vibranium, until a spirit led a certain warrior to find and eat a "heart-shaped herb",
affected by the metal Vibranium.
He gained superhuman abilities, and became the first "Black Panther".
Four of the five tribes submit to his power except the Jabari tribe wants freedom.
The Wakandans use the vibranium to develop highly-advanced technology.
They see the horrors of the other nations and isolated themselves from the rest of the
world.
They hid and pretended that they are not industrially developed like a third-world country.
In 1992, King T-Chaka visits his brother N-Jobu, who is working undercover in Oakland, California.
T-Chaka accuses N-Jobu of assisting black-market arms dealer Ulysses Klaue in stealing vibranium
from Wakanda.
N-Jobu's partner reveals he is Zuri, another undercover Wakandan, and confirms T-Chaka's
suspicions.
He confronts N-Jobu, who becomes angry and threatens to kill T-Chaka's loyal friend,
Zuri.
T-Chaka reluctantly kills N-Jobu to save Zuri, and abandons N-Jobu's son Erik in order to
prevent the Wakandan people from learning the truth.
In the present day, T-Challa returns to Wakanda to assume the throne after one week, following
T-Chaka's death at the hands of Helmut Zemo, disguised as a masked James Barnes.
his son T-Challa returns to Wakanda to assume the throne.
After working with Okoye, the leader of the all-female fighting force the Dora Milaje,
to extract his ex-lover Nakia from an undercover assignment in Nigeria's Sambisa Forest. he
reunites with his mother Queen Ramonda, and younger sister Princess Shuri, the nation's
current technological genius.
Later at his Kingship ceremony, to formally induct him as the king, T-Challa drinks a
liquid that removes his enhanced strength and formally invites anyone to challenge his
claim as king in ritual combat.
The challenger to step forward Umbaku, the leader of the mountain-dwelling Jabari Tribe,
who claims that T-Challa is not worthy of being king.
The two engage in ritual combat, and even without his strength, T-Challa manages to
best him and spares his life.
T-Challa is crowned the new King and drinks a fluid derived from the heart-shaped herb.
As his body digests the herb, T-Challa goes into a deep sleep.
where he visits the Ancestral Plane and reunites with a vision of his father.
who advises him he is a good man but also warns him, that he has hard times ahead and
should surround himself with people he trusts.
With this T-Challa wakes up from his dream.
At the same time In London, a gang led by Klaue and including an ex-U.S. black ops soldier,
Erik Stevens aka "Killmonger," steals an ancient Wakandan vibranium axe from a museum.
When Wakanda hears of Klaue's actions and receives word that Klaue has resurfaced in
South Korea.
T-Challa's friend Wa-Kabi, who lost his parents as a result of the dealer's actions, urges
the young monarch to bring him to justice.
Before the mission, T-Challa meets with Shuri, who has developed a number of impressive technology,
including sound-absorbent shoes, as well as modifications to the Black Panther suit.
It is disguised as a necklace and it absorbs each hit it takes and turns it into kinetic
energy.
T-Challa, Okoye, and Nakia plan to intercept Klaue at an underground casino in Busan, where
he will be selling the stolen artifact to an unknown buyer.
however, the plan goes wrong when T-Challa discovers the buyer is CIA agent Everett Ross
and Klaue suspects the deal is a setup.
As a result, the Dora Milaje are forced to sabotage the operation, inciting a shootout.
When Klaue attempts to escape, T-Challa, Ross, Shuri, Nakia, and Okoye intercept him in a
car chase across the city.
T-Challa follows in his suit while Shuri rides a car through a projection back home that
operates an actual car that T-Challa rides on.
Klaue ultimately crashes, and T-Challa comes close to killing him.
But after watching civilians filming him, he is forced to decide against it and hands
him into the custody of the CIA.
Ross interrogates Klaue while T-Challa and Okoye listen in through a device T-Challa
planted on Ross.
Klaue reveals to Ross what he previously didn’t know about Wakanda and all that it contains.
Outside, Killmonger and his crew set up explosives behind a wall.
Nakia sees this on security cameras and runs to warn everyone, but the villains blow open
the wall.
They start shooting, and Ross pushes Nakia out of the way, taking a bullet in the back.
Killmonger takes Klaue away, and T-Challa notices a ring around Killmonger’s neck
similar to one that belonged to his grandfather..
Rather than pursue Klaue, T-Challa decides to take Ross, who has been severely injured
while protecting Nakia.
Ross is given something to keep him stabilized until they return to Wakanda, where Shuri
can use the nation's advanced technology to save him.
The villains head to a plane that Killmonger wants to take to Wakanda.
Klaue takes Killmonger’s girlfriend as a hostage since he has other plans, but Killmonger
kills the woman himself before shooting Klaue.
He tells Killmonger they won’t let him into Wakanda, until he reveals a tattoo on his
lip that most Wakandans have.
He then shoots Klaue dead.
Back in Wakanda, Wa-Kabi expresses disappointment with T-Challa for failing to bring in Klaue.
At the same time, Ross is being tended to by Shuri, who uses vibranium to heal his wounds.
T-Challa then goes to find Zuri and ask him why Killmonger had his grandfather’s ring.
Zuri is then forced to admit what he knew about N-Jobu.
In a flashback to 1992, we see that N-Jobu had stolen the vibranium to spread it to other
people of African descent so that they may fight back against their oppressors.
N-Jobu turned his gun on Zuri, and T-Chaka stepped in and killed N-Jobu with his claws.
It filled T-Chaka with great regret, and they left his son, Erik, behind.
The boy was on the courtyard when this happened, and he later found his father’s body.
Erik would go on to become a black ops soldier who earned the nickname “Killmonger” due
to his high body count, which is evident by the marks on his body for everyone he’s
ever killed.
Killmonger enters Wakanda with Klaue’s corpse.
He presents it to Wa-Kabi, who escorts Killmonger to the palace.
Killmonger reveals his true name, N-Jadaka, and that he is N-Jobu’s son.
Wa-Kabi confirms it to everyone when he shows them Killmonger’s ring.
He announces his intention to claim the throne, challenging T-Challa for the throne in ritual
combat.
Deciding Killmonger has a legitimate claim, the ritual combat begins.
with Everyone gathers for the challenge by the falls once again, with T-Challa relinquishing
his powers for ritual combat.
Killmonger fights brutally and almost easily overpowers T-Challa.
Zuri steps in to try and save T-Challa, knowing it is with him that Killmonger should hold
a grudge.
Killmonger fatally impales Zuri, and he defeats T-Challa and hurls him over a waterfall, to
the horror of Ramonda, Shuri, and Nakia, where he is presumed dead.
Thus, Killmonger is made king.
After ingesting the heart-shaped herb to gain the powers of the Black Panther, Killmonger
orders everyone to burn a garden of heart-shaped herbs for future kings, but Nakia manages
to sneak one away with her.
Nakia, Shuri, Ross, and T'-Challa's mother Ramonda flee to seek the aid of the Jabari
tribe in the mountains.
They speak to Umbaku and ask for his help and learn Umbaku's men are caring for the
comatose T-Challa, whom they had rescued in repayment for sparing Umbaku's life.
Ramonda grounds the the heart-shaped herb into a drink to feed T-Challa – brought
by Nakia, before they bury him in the snow that he rests upon.
T-Chaka returns to the Ancestral Plane again and meets the spirit of his father, who tells
his son its time to let go and join him and his ancestors.
T-Challa demands to know why Erik was left as an orphan in the US when he should have
been brought home to his people.
T-Chaka claims he did what he did for his people and Wakanda to allow them to remain
in isolation, but T-Challa angrily rejects this and states that they cannot hide from
the rest of the world forever.
He then tells his father's spirit he will not join them but will return to stop the
monster his people created from sitting on the throne.
T-Challa then wakes up, and requests Umbaku’s help in fighting Killmonger, but he refuses.
Killmonger, supported by Wa-Kabi and his army, enacts his father's plan.
killmonger prepares shipments of Wakandan weapons to be distributed to Wakandan operatives
around the world, that of which includes New York City, London and Hong Kong.
As one of their jets flies overhead, it is shot down by T-Challa, making his return as
Black Panther.
T-Challa challenges Killmonger for the throne, which was never officially concluded since
T-Challa never died or conceded.
When Killmonger refuses to cooperate, his claim to the throne is immediately invalidated,
and Okoye and the Dora Milaje turn against him.
However, Killmonger who is now wearing a suit of Black Panther armor of his own, resists
with force along with the Border Tribe.
Wa-Kabi and his army charge against T-Challa, but he blasts them away with his kinetic energy.
Okoye then leads the Dora Milaje into battle.
Shuri gives Ross access to a jet to shoots down the planes carrying the weapons before
they can leave the Wakanda.
Ross is able to shoot them all down.
Nakia joins Shuri and Okoye as they fight Killmonger, as he easily overpowers the Dora
Milaje with the new suit.
Wa-Kabi unleashes armored rhinos into the battle.
The battle goes poorly for T-Challa's side until Umbaku and the Jabari arrive to support
him.
One of the rhinos nearly runs down M- Umbaku until Okoye steps in.
She forces Wa-Kabi and his soldiers to surrender.
Before Killmonger comes close to murdering Shuri, T-Challa saves her and tackles Killmonger
into the Great Mound.
T-Challa and Killmonger's battle carries them into the heart of the vibranium mine.
While T-Challa and Killmonger vie for supremacy, sonic disruptors used in the transport of
the metal in the mine incapacitate their vibranium armors.
T-Challa uses this to his advantage, and overpowers Killmonger, impaling him with his own short
spear.
Now vulnerable and dying, Killmonger expresses regret over not seeing how beautiful Wakanda
really is.
T-Challa carries Killmonger out of the mine to see the sunset, which N-Jobu had described
to him as a sight to behold.
T-Challa offers Killmonger a chance to be healed, but he declines, knowing he would
only be imprisoned afterwards.
Killmonger requests to be buried at sea with his ancestors, as they knew death was better
than bondage.
He pulls the spear out of his chest and dies peacefully.
With that victory, T-Challa is officially restored to the throne, with Umbaku granted
a seat in the national tribal council to represent his tribe in recognition of his loyalty.
T-Challa brings Shuri to Oakland outside Killmonger’s old apartment.
Rejecting the isolationism of past Wakandan kings, T-Challa reveals he bought the building,
as well as two buildings next to it so that he may establish a Wakandan embassy in united
states, that Nakia and Shuri will spearhead.
He then brings down their jet so that the kids in the courtyard may see and be in awe
of.
One of the boys then approaches T-Challa and asks him who he is.
In Mid-Credits Scene: T-Challa is joined by Nakia, Shuri, and Okoye at the United Nations.
He announces his plan is to reveal Wakanda's resources to the world, and to come out of
isolation in the hope that they may work together with the rest of the world.
In Post-Credits Scene: Three Wakandan children are looking upon someone in a hut.
Shuri orders them to not bother the person.
Bucky Barns steps out of the hut, and is met by Shuri, who begins to help him with his
recuperation from his mental programming.