The perfect endings given to Tony Stark and Steve Rogers’ character arcs in Avengers: Endgame proved that the Marvel Cinematic Universe isn’t aimless, and that we’re following these characters on clear journeys with clear conclusions. Debuting in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, T’Challa has quickly become one of the MCU’s most popular characters.
His first solo movie was a record-shattering cultural landmark, and his roles in the last two Avengers movies only solidified his place as one of the franchise’s most significant new heroes. Eventually, his MCU arc will come to a close. So, here are 10 Things We Hope To See By The End Of Black Panther’s MCU Arc.
Becoming the king that Wakanda deserves
Ryan Coogler has said that one of the things he’s looking forward to exploring in future Black Panther sequels is how T’Challa grows as a king. In the comics, he’s been ruling Wakanda since he was a kid, but in the MCU, he only just gained his throne following T’Chaka’s death in a terrorist attack that Bucky was framed for.
T’Challa is still getting the hang of his duties as a king. It’ll be interesting to see how his royal duties develop over the years. By the end of Black Panther’s MCU arc, we should be able to chart back his development as a monarch.
Uniting Wakanda’s tribes
In Avengers: Infinity War, when T’Challa was turned to dust by Thanos, he left Wakanda without a king for five years. Based on Okoye’s involvement with the Avengers, the country managed to get by okay during that time. With M’Baku and his tribe joining T’Challa in the final battle against Killmonger in the first Black Panther movie, Wakanda could be heading towards a more democratic setup.
As it stands, a royal council gets to decide everything. In order to be a fairer leader than his father was, T’Challa should unite the tribes of Wakanda and involve them in all of the government’s big decisions.
A close rivalry with Namor
In the comics, T’Challa has a long-standing rivalry with a different king: Namor, the ruler of the undersea kingdom of Atlantis. Some fans are speculating that Atlantis will appear in the Black Panther sequel, following a comment that Okoye made about “an earthquake under the ocean” in Avengers: Endgame, and with any luck, this will lead to a big-screen incarnation of T’Challa and Namor’s contentious relationship.
Whereas T’Challa is humble and kind-natured, Namor is arrogant and self-obsessed, so the two make quite the “odd couple” pairing. The role of Namor will need an actor who has great on-screen chemistry with Chadwick Boseman.
Nakia becomes Malice
In the Marvel universe, a few different villains have taken on the name “Malice,” but the first incarnation was Nakia. Lupita Nyong’o played Nakia in Black Panther as a Wakandan spy who wanted to explore the world, which made her a bad fit for a romantic relationship with T’Challa, who has to stay on his home turf as the nation’s king.
In a future MCU movie, Nakia could learn something on one of her missions that turns her against Wakanda, taking on the name Malice. This would test T’Challa’s loyalties, as he’s forced to fight someone he really cares about.
Wakanda has to fend off an invasion
Some recent Black Panther comics have explored the idea of countries wanting to invade Wakanda for its mountain of vibranium. This would mirror real-life history. Whenever a country has a large bank of a valuable resource — oil is an example of this from recent history — then other countries want to get in there and take it.
As soon as Wakanda reveals to the world that it has a ton of vibranium, then it’s possible that another nation (possibly Latveria, to introduce Doctor Doom into the mix) will plot to invade the country and steal its vibranium. This would make for an action-packed movie, and a powerful test for T’Challa as a character.
Marrying Storm
Within the next few years, the X-Men characters will be integrated into the MCU. Marvel Studios recently reacquired the rights to those characters after Disney’s landmark merger with Fox. It’ll be difficult to figure out how to get the entire race of mutants into the already-established world of the MCU, but trust Kevin Feige to figure it out.
When the X-Men are in the MCU, we could be treated to one of the Marvel universe’s most popular power couples: Black Panther and Storm. So far, T’Challa’s only romantic interest is Nakia, and their relationship didn’t work out and they’re trying to make it as friends. His love life is wide open.
Setting up the Illuminati
In real life, the Illuminati is the center of a widespread conspiracy that there’s a group of very powerful people tugging on the puppet strings that control the entire world. In the Marvel universe, the Illuminati is the basically the same thing, except it’s real. The world’s most powerful people, like Professor X and Doctor Strange (and Iron Man, but he’s not around in the MCU anymore), are members of the Illuminati.
With more and more superhumans showing up in the MCU — not to mention the impending introduction of the X-Men and the Fantastic Four — the franchise could have its own version of the Illuminati, and T’Challa could be a founding member.
A reunion with Killmonger on the Astral Plane
Marvel fans are eager to see Erik Killmonger again, but if he were to be somehow resurrected in a future movie, it would undo the impact of his incredibly powerful death scene in Black Panther. However, he can still appear, because all past Black Panthers go to the Astral Plane.
Killmonger consumed the Heart-Shaped Herb and became a Black Panther before his death, so he could make an appearance on the Astral Plane. T’Challa could join him there and tell him about the effect that Wakanda is having on the wider world, inspired by his motivations. It could be a sweet scene that ties up emotional loose ends.
Sharing Wakanda’s resources with the world
At the end of Black Panther, we saw T’Challa beginning Wakanda’s mission to use its resources to make the world a better place at the Oakland apartment building where Killmonger’s father was killed. In the mid-credits scene, he addressed the United Nations with this plan.
In future movies, we’ll need to see the effects — and possible pitfalls — of this big change. As Wakanda uses its wealth of vibranium and futuristic technologies to fix society’s ills beyond its borders, the African nation will surely face a number of detractors and setbacks, in addition to the obvious rewards. This would be interesting to explore.
Azari is born
Before the end of T’Challa’s tenure in the MCU, we should see the birth of his son, Azari. As T’Challa and Storm’s biological son, Azari inherited the powers of the Black Panther from the Heart-Shaped Herb and Storm’s mutant weather-controlling abilities. T’Challa’s driving motivation in the MCU is fixing the mistakes made by his father. To step up this development, he will need to become a father himself and prove himself a better parent.
Us actor Evan Alex, who starred alongside Black Panther’s Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke in Jordan Peele’s horror masterpiece, has said that he’d love to play Azari in a future MCU installment.
