Spoiler Warning:Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Black Panther: Wakanda Foreverhad one of the biggest and best surprises for the sequel’s fans. For months beforehand, many of us pondered just who would be the next Black Panther. Everyone we expected was in the trailer, and even HE showed up in the movie. After that, it was just a matter of trying to decide who it was we saw in the suit. And we’ll admit, even though we were surprised when Shuri took the heart-shaped herb, we were even more surprised when the one person we didn’t expect showed up in her vision: Killmonger.
For a long time, we had theories of who might be the next Black Panther inWakanda Forever. We even thought they might not replace Chadwick Boseman at all. But when the trailer dropped and we saw the suit, we knew it had to be one of the women. We’ll admit, at first, Nakia was our favorite pick. But we also had a hair-brained idea that, somehow, Killmonger would return. And he did, sort of. And as much of a joy as it was to see Michael B. Jordan again, he was still dead, technically. But like we saw inThor: Love and Thunder,many dead characters could still appear. Kevin Feige said, “Anything is possible in the Marvel Universe!”
Wakanda Forever: The Realm of the Ancestors
According to Wakandan tradition, whenthe next Black Panthereats the heart-shaped herb, they journey to the Realm of the Ancestors. There, they meet with their relatives and past Black Panthers for guidance in order to fulfill their traditional position well. Shuri was probably expecting to see her mother but instead saw someone who she thought represented evil. Killmonger explained to Shuri that his presence there was meant to give her the guidance and force of will she needed to become the next Black Panther. But the most important thing he said might have been when he agreed with her that the Realm of the Ancestors doesn’t really exist; the implication is that this vision had just been generated by her subconscious. But he may have implied more than that.
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InThor: Love and Thunder, we caught a glimpse of Valhalla. At the end of the movie, when Jane dies, we see her walk into a beautiful realm of light where Heimdall, a character who had died in the previous film, was waiting for her. Many fans brought up the idea that Valhalla was just a higher plane that still existed in the Marvel universe. It’s a valid theory. Many realms that certain people in Marvel consider their afterlife have proved just to be another level of existence in Marvel Comics. Even inLoki, when acharacter had been pruned, at first, we thought they stopped existing, but they were sent to this place at the end of time.
This could arguably be true for Wakanda with its Realm of the Ancestors. Bast, like Thor or Zeus, is just another god thatexists on his own plane, as Thor existed in Asgard. This place in Wakanda, where the ancestors are said to be, could be another one of those planes.
Where Is Killmonger?
Killmonger could, effectively, still exist in one of these alternate planes. Much like Mephisto rules over a realm of demons and cursed souls, so too might Killmonger be in a place meant to punish the wicked of the Wakandan tradition. Bast may have sent Killmonger to a place where we would be subject to some sort of torment because he burned the heart-shaped herb and tried to conquer Wakanda. It may be so that Bast saw fit to resurrect him for a short period of time to help Shuri save her people.
Related:Namor’s Long Road to the Movie Screen with Black Panther 2
This system of death and resurrection may come into play sooner than we think. Acharacter called The Leaderhas just been confirmed forCaptain America 4. Comic book fans will know that The Leader’s big claim to fame is the number of times he has died and resurrected himself. It’s through his journey that many people have discovered The One Below All, or the character waiting at the bottom of the multiverse.
Many of these levels of death and reincarnation occur not in the sense that these people stop existing, just that they have moved universes – most of the time based on their morality in their previous existence.
If The Leader is able to die and resurrect himself, journeying freely through these universes, who’s to say that Killmonger couldn’t as well? It may not be the easiest or most direct explanation for how to bring him back, but if there is a possibility that he still exists, fans may want to see him again.Killmonger’s cameoopened to gasps in theaters; what if we could still have a movie about him?
