The post-generic scene of Black Panther 2 folds the cards in the MCU with the arrival of a new character. What role can he play?
Warning, this article contains spoilers for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, especially the post-credits scene.
In Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, director Ryan Coogler and his team had to bounce back after the death of Chadwick Boseman in August 2020. They made it a tribute film that speaks in particular of legacy. And what better legacy than a child who can take back his throne one day?
It was this revelation that awaited viewers in the film’s only post-credits scene. While in Haiti to bid farewell to her brother, Shuri (Letitia Wright) discovers that T’Challa had a son with Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) just before Thanos snapped his finger five years earlier. . Played by the young Divine Love Konadu-Sun, this character was named Toussaint by the scriptwriters, in homage to Toussaint Louverture, a former slave who led the Revolution in Haiti against the French.
If the arrival of this character has surprised Marvel fans, it’s because he doesn’t really exist in the comics. Well, not as is. In the Earth-616 version, T’Challa has no heirs, but in the Multiverse yes. His son has different names there: T’Chaka / T’Charra / T’Channa / T’wari… In most cases, the leader of Wakanda was in a relationship with a certain Storm, from the X-Men.
A character out of nowhere?
One thing remains to be known: did the writers plan to integrate this character into Black Panther 2 or was this choice imposed after the death of Boseman? Nat Moore answered the question in this interview given to Collider:
“We had this idea quite early on. It was planned that we would end the movie like this after Chad died. But to be completely honest, we had already discussed introducing this character before he passed away. We We’ve come up with the idea again and hopefully it will be seen as something of a revival after a period of adversity.”
No wonder Marvel had this discussion since the Maison des Idées is already thinking about the future, with the establishment of a new team of Avengers (since several actors are/will reach the end of their contract).
The possibility of a Young Avengers film has long been raised and there is plenty to do with the latest arrivals: Kate Bishop (Hawkeye), Cassie Lang (Scott’s daughter), Tommy & Billy (Wiccan & Speed seen in WandaVision and Dr Strange 2), America Chavez (Ms. America seen in Dr Strange 2) or even Kamala Khan (Ms. Marvel)…
If Toussaint is far too young to slip into the Black Panther costume (he’s only 6 years old) and we can’t imagine him fighting for the crown in Black Panther 3, he could still play a defining role in the future of the MCU.
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