Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.After Captain America: Civil War, there wasn’t a single Marvel fan that could imagine the role of T'Challa, the Black Panther, being played by someone other than Chadwick Boseman. The star gave us the definitive MCU version of King T’Challa and also helped forge the Wakandan culture that took our breath away in Black Panther. So, we were all very excited to see Boseman’s T’Challa lead the Marvel Cinematic Universe for many years. But, then, news of Boseman’s death sucker-punched our hopes, not only because the MCU lost one of its brightest stars but because the world had to say farewell to a genuinely good person. And those are rare. Of course, Boseman’s death also threw a wrench on the production of Black Panther 2, forcing filmmaker Ryan Coogler to rethink the movie that would become Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Now that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is in theaters, we can finally see how Boseman’s passing affected Coogler’s work and the MCU as a whole. That’s because, instead of recasting T’Challa’s part, Marvel Studios decided to kill the character. So, besides introducing a new villain and exploring Wakanda’s conflict with other nations in the world, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever also deals with the death of King T’Challa. By uniting all these threads, Boseman's presence remains, as he's constantly honored through Wakanda Forever’s entire runtime.
‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Honors Chadwick Boseman in Many Ways
From the first second of Wakanda Forever, we know the movie will be about Boseman’s death. The movie’s first scene follows Shuri (Letitia Wright) as she tries to recreate the Heart-Shaped Herb in her lab, believing that a synthetic version of the mystical plant might save her brother’s life. Unfortunately, she fails to find a solution in time, launching the movie’s plot into motion. In the MCU, T’Challa dies due to an unnamed disease he kept a secret from everyone, bearing the pain alone while spreading hope. That’s not unlike Boseman, whose death was even more shocking because no one knew he was fighting colon cancer while still working.
Marvel Studios' Opening Becomes a Chadwick Boseman Tribute
After T’Challa’s death, we get the classic Marvel Studios opening, with the company’s tridimensional logo projecting scenes from all previous MCU productions. However, in another way to honor Boseman, the logo only contains scenes of King T’Challa. And instead of music, we are faced with silence in the theater. So, by changing the logo for Wakanda Forever, Marvel Studios pushes fans to pay their respects to the fallen hero.
While these homages are very straightforward, the whole Wakanda Forever script is about embracing T’Challa and Boseman’s values. The movie centers on Shuri, who cannot let go of the pain of losing her brother. That pain pushes Shuri away from Wakandan tradition and even leads her to declare the Black Panther is dead forever. However, when faced with the destruction of Wakanda, Shuri takes on the mantle of the Black Panther. And by the end of Wakanda Forever, she lets go of her rage and grief, embracing compassion and self-sacrifice, a journey that mirrors the one Boseman’s T’Challa went through in Civil War. The message is clear: while T’Challa and Boseman are no longer with us, they will live on through their work, and the positive changes they made to the world will always be worth fighting for.
The End of 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' Honors Chadwick Boseman in Another Way
At the end of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, we get another montage of scenes featuring Boseman’s T’Challa, as Shuri prepares to say farewell to her brother. However, that’s not the last time the movie honors Boseman. That’s because, in the end-credits scene, we meet Toussaint, T’Challa and Nakia’s (Lupita Nyong'o) son and heir to the throne of Wakanda. And while Toussaint is the boy’s Haitian name, his Wakandan name is also T’Challa. So, in the future, a new T’Challa will take the mantle of Black Panther, likely fighting the good fight his father began years ago. Boseman changed the MCU forever, and Marvel Studios wants to keep his legacy alive. There’s no better way to honor his memory.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is available right now in theaters.