Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever is an upcoming American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics and a direct sequel to Black Panther (2018). Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is intended to be the 30th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As you might know, unfortunately we lost T’Challa actor Chadwick Boseman to cancer and Marvel Studios decided to honor him by not recasting him. So instead, this film is going to be based on Shuri, W’Kabi, M’Baku, Okoye and the new entrant Ironheart. But Ironheart isn’t the only new entrant, as we now also have the first live-action portrayal of Namor, The Sub-Mariner! Moving on, the full plot of the film has been leaked (thanks to Reddit), so read on only if you don’t mind major spoilers.
Black Panther 2 Opening
It opens with a long take of Shuri basically trying to synthesize an artificial recreation of the herb to try and save T’Challa’s life (we don’t know until later that he was suffering from an unknown illness that he kept from those around him). She’s frantically trying to test different variations through simulations with the success rate for it to work being around 28%. During this, an AI keeps informing her of T’Challa’s plummeting heart rate and vitals. Multiple other scientists try to convince her that maybe she should just go be with him for his final moments, but she resists. Eventually she starts to generate an herb with a 29% survival prediction and tries to race to give it to her brother but is stopped by Ramonda saying he’s already gone to the ancestors. We get T’Challa’s funeral with his casket being taken away by a Wakandan ship.
We then jump 1 year and Shuri has become obsessed with innovating technology but not working on the artificial herb. At the same time, Ramonda is dealing with the international pressure to share Vibranium with other nations (something she says they will never do because the evils “they” are capable of). This is also demonstrated by France essentially using covert operatives to try and steal Vibranium from a Wakandan research site. Lake Bell’s character has a ship that has located vibranium deep beneath the ocean surface, after it is confirmed, they’re attacked by Namor and his people. They kill everyone aboard and it results in everyone in the know believing it was done by Wakandans. Shuri and Ramonda mourn T’Challa (it having been 1 year since is passing to the day) by going to a beach where Ramonda wants to perform a ceremony of burning their funeral attire, thus symbolizing their coming to terms with T’Challa’s passing.
Shuri refuses saying that if she thinks about her brother for too long it will be the world that burns, not her clothes. Ramonda tells her when T’Challa died, she walked as far away as she could until she reached water and sat and thought of him and in that moment she felt him next to her with his hand on her shoulder. Shuri rejects this, saying that’s a construct of her mind and T’Challa is truly gone. Namor, emerges from the water and confronts them about the attack on the vessel, trying to propose and alliance. He claims that they aren’t the only ones with Vibranium and this location of it threatens both of them but mainly his people and knowing of their existence. Shuri and Ramonda don’t fully believe him (Shuri claims no one should be able to locate Vibranium like that or that it even exists outside Wakanda) but Namor says that all he wants is the person responsible for the technology and if they find them and kill them OR turn them over to him, it will solidify their partnership. But he also says they can tell no one of his existence or that would solidify them as enemies.
After reaching out to Ross and finding out that the person responsible for the technology is an MIT student, Okoye and Shuri (much to Ramonda’s disapproval) go to find Riri Williams to get her to safety not only from Namor but the CIA searching for her. We discover Riri didn’t sell her vibranium locator to the government, but her teacher did without her knowing. They go to her garage but are quickly found by the CIA and they must fight their way out. Okoye in a car, Shiri on a motorcycle and Riri in her test armor. While they’re initially successful, Namora and Attuma ambush them on a bridge and knock both Riri and Shuri unconscious. Okoye successfully kills all the warriors but Attuma and after a largely even fight Okoye is disarmed and knocked into the water but she also witnesses the fallen soldiers rising, fully alive again. Shuri awakens and barters to be taken to Namor to plead with him not to kill Riri since she isn’t a participant in the people looking for Vibranium. They agree and take her and Riri to Talocan. Upon finding out that Shuri was taken, Ramonda strips Okoye from the Dora Milaje for her failure, breaking Okoye’s spirit.
Namor and Atlantis vs Wakanda!
In Talocan, Shuri tries to barter for Riri’s life and Namor shows Shuri, Talocan and explains it’s origin. Around 1500, one of their Shaman’s had a vision for the survival of their tribe by finding a glowing flower underwater. He believed it would give them all the powers needed to survive the invaders coming. However, Namor’s pregnant mother didn’t want to partake but they convinced her on the promise her son would be the first one born to their new world. The flower turned their skin blue and gave them incredible strength but they could no longer breathe and instead went to the ocean. Namor was born but was unique among them, with winged feet, pointed ears and slowed aging. They believed him to be K’uk’ulkan (and call him that). However, his mother longed for her home on the surface and asked to be buried there after her death. When Namor went to the surface to fulfill her wishes, he found the indigenous people enslaved by the Spanish settlers. They call him a demon attack the Talocans who reciprocate and easily kill them. A dying priest calls Namor “El Nino sin amor”, something Namor adopts as a name for his enemies to call him.
Meanwhile, Ramonda finds Nakia who is running a school in Haiti (and has been since the blip) and begs her to find Shuri. Nakia reluctantly agrees and begins searching for leads to where Talocan is. Ross, meanwhile, is dealing with his new CIA Director, Valentina (she’s also his ex-wife) investigating the attacks in Boston and on the ship. Ross feeds info back to Ramonda through Shuri’s lost beads to try and warn them of increasing sentiment to attack Wakanda. In Talocan, Shuri begins seeing similarities between the cultures and begs Namor to spare Riri and they will personally ensure that her technology isn’t used wrongly again AND that they will never reveal the existence of Talocan. Namor, despite his growing warmness to Shuri, says he’s unwilling to risk his people and Riri needs to die. Not only that, but now that the surface knows Vibranium is in the ocean he plans to wage war on them and asks for Wakanda’s help. Shuri begs to find a peaceful solution, but Namor still doesn’t think it’s possible. He gives her an ancient Talocans bracelet as a good faith gift. Nakia is able to locate Talocan and goes to infiltrate and save Shuri and Riri. But in the process kills two Talocan guards. Shiri begs Nakia to let her stay and save one, but she insists they must go or they will also die when Namor returns. Ramonda simultaneously invites Namor to negotiate the return of Shuri. Namor refuses Ramonda’s offers but then she threatens Namor that if he doesn’t return them, she will reveal Talocan to the world. Namor retaliates by saying if they do anything against Talocan he will kill Ramonda personally and Wakanda will be the first nation to fall. Upon returning, Namor finds the fallen guards and proclaims to Talocan they will attack Wakanda.
They attack Wakanda and Shuri, Riri, Okoye struggle to evacuate and save as many people as possible, Namor starts demolishing anything they throw at him, culminating in him partially flooding Wakanda and attempting to drown Riri and Ramonda. Ramonda saves an unconscious Riri from death at the cost of her own life, devastating Shuri, now with no living relatives. Namor warns them he will return unless they completely surrender. Wakanda evacuates all people to the Jabari tribe mountains, with the hope they’ll be safe there. M’Baku speaks to Shuri and Ramonda’s funeral trying to reason that killing Namor will not end the conflict and she needs to deal with her grief and mourn T’Challa and Ramonda. Shuri pushes against this notion. Shuri, with Nakia’s urging, finally works on making the herb with the missing piece that helps her synthesize it. This missing piece being the twine from the Talocan bracelet which was made from a vibranium plant (the flower in Namor’s story). Shuri is successfully able to take the herb and access the ancestral plane where she meets Killmonger. He coaxes her to admit that she WANTED him to show up because subconsciously she doesn’t even believe in the ancestral plane, so she didn’t think it mattered. They argue how best to defeat Namor with Killmonger claiming T’Challa was too noble to do what was necessary. He says Shuri has a choice to make, either be noble like T’Challa or do what is needed and be like him. Shuri wakes up shaken and lies to Nakia, saying she saw no one in the plane.
Black Panther 2 Ending and Final Act
Ross is arrested by Valentina who reveals she knew Ross had the beads the whole time and had them bugged and heard everything he’s passed to the Wakandans. Ross tries to reason with her that they’re not a threat and imagine what the US would do if they had a weapon like vibranium and Valentina says that’s her “dream” if the US was the only country to have that power. Shuri, now with the power of the Black Panther, reveals herself to her elders and declares that the Black Panther lives, and she plans to defeat Namor by luring him to another Vibranium device made by Riri. BUT they believe his weakness is leaving water for too long and not having access. So, they plan to lure him, capture him in a converted Wakandan ship and dry him out and kill him. While the elders approve, M’Baku tries to advise Shuri that killing Namor will not solve her grief nor end the conflict. If anything, it will doom them to eternal war. He says this isn’t what Ramonda hoped for Shuri to be. Shuri answers that Ramonda is gone and her hopes with her.
After luring Namor into their trap Nakia, Okoye (now in the Midnight armor), M’Baku and Riri (also in new armor) fight the Talocans and Namor. Shuri fights ruthlessly and with Riri’s help, gets Namor in a ship fitted with heating tech and begins to weaken him. Instead of offering peace, Shuri says she only plans to kill Namor with no other option. Namor, using his depleting strength, destroys the ships engine and Shuri commands it to take them to a desert. Shuri takes advantage of Namor’s weakened state and brutalizes him. Namor briefly is able to gain an upper hand and impales Shuri with his staff on a stone. Namor limps to nearby water to regain strength but Shuri breaks the staff and gets between Namor and the water. She says “Wakanda Forever” and crosses her arms, detonating the crashed ship, and burns Namor fatally. She puts his spear to his neck, ready to kill him (at the same time, the Wakandans are losing to the Talocans at sea). In the brief moment, Shuri thinks backwards through time, ending in the moment Ramonda told her T’Challa died but instead she says from the Ancestral Plane, “Show him who you are”. Shuri shows Namor mercy if he yields and promises to let go of killing Riri and return to the ocean never to wage war on the surface. In return Wakanda will protect them and their existence. Namor yields and they return together and cease the conflict.
The Wakandans start to rebuild what they have lost from the attacks and Riri returns home finally, with Shuri saying they are grateful for the help in defending Wakanda and hopefully their paths would cross again. Nakia says she’ll return to Haiti, and Shuri is welcome to join her, but Shuri says she needs to stay to help Wakanda move forward. Namora resents Namor’s peace with Wakanda, but he claims that one day the surface will wage war on Wakanda and they will come to them for assistance and it will be then that they in control. Okoye frees Ross from a transport truck taking him to prison. Finally, the tribes gather to have the ceremony to officially crown Shuri the queen and Black Panther (the waterfall ceremony) but as she’s supposed to arrive, M’baku says she has pressing matters and he will be challenging her for the thrown today. [Source’s note: Honestly, I think this is meant to be a joke, but no one laughed at my screening LOL]. Shuri, in Haiti, goes to Nakia’s home to perform the ceremony of burning her funeral attire but first sits alone on the beach, and begins to remember T’Challa and weeps, finally burning her clothes.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Post Credit Scene
While we earlier heard rumors about a Dr. Doom post credit scene, it seems highly unlikely now. In fact, latest reports about the premiere suggest that there is only one mid-credit scene in the film. In this scene, we see Shuri discovering that Nakia and T’Challa had a son who Nakia had kept a secret. Apparently, their son is also named T’Challa and hence is an heir to the throne of Wakanda as well as as the mantle of Black Panther. Hence, Shuri takes him in to introduce him to Wakanda as well as train him for future. I know, it all sounds too Disney Princess kind of thing but it is what it is. As for post credit scene, there have been reports that it has been cut from the film after the delay of Fantastic Four.
That is pretty much it from the Black Panther 2 leaks. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is all set to release on November 11, 2022.
If you have any questions regarding MCU, feel free to ask in the comments below. For more content, stay tuned. As usual, like, subscribe and share our articles as we here are trying to build a community of people High on Cinema!
