Who should be Black Panther?

 Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is set to be released by the year’s end. After the devastating loss of Chadwick Bosenan, who played King T’Challah, the Black Panther himself, it was announced that his character would not be replaced with another actor. In my opinion, that is the right move. With that being said, I wanted to speculate on who will become the Black Panther in this movie. Of course, they’ll have to explain T’Challah’s death as well. The emotional teaser trailer has led everyone to speculate.

Many assume that being the Black Panther and being royalty in Wakanda are mutually exclusive. However, that is not true, as before King T’Chaka died, T’Challah already had the Black Panther powers. I believe there might have even been a line of dialog in which T’Chaka mentioned that he either was getting too old to be the Black Panther or couldn’t fit into the suit anymore. 

In order for T’Challah to become King, he had to be drained of his powers and challenged in a fight. He became King after defeating M’Baku. Later in the movie, when we thought he was dead at the hands of Killmonger in the challenge for both titles, the latter had briefly become King as well. Before I give my opinion as to who should become Black Panther, I’d like to lay down some of the strong possibilities. Also, please notice I’m talking only about the title of Black Panther and not who will become the next royal leader of Wakanda. Before I continue, I’d like to add that the MCU never did explain who ruled Wakanda during the blip.

SHURI

Many people think T’Challah’s little sister will become the new Black Panther. While she did in the comics, this version of Shuri is very hands on with Wakanda’s vibranium technology. She’s a genius and designs the Black Panther suits, among many other things. While she could become Queen, her talents would likely be better utilized the way they are currently. Also, without the technology, she’s not a naturally strong fighter like T’Challah was and likely wouldn’t be able to defeat an opponent in combat. 

OKOYE

Okoye is a general and the leader of the Dora Milage, Wakanda’s all female squad of fearless warriors sworn to protect the throne. Since the first Black Panther film and beyond, she was been a big part of the MCU. In End Game before the Hulk snapped to bring everyone back, including T’Challah, she served as Wakanda’s ambassador, interacting with the Avengers and other important heroes on a mission to protect the remaining people of the world from other possible threats. She filled an important role and it’s possible she could have been ruling Wakanda during T’Challah’s absence. While she would actually make a pretty good leader of Wakanda and a legitimate Black Panther, I don’t think she will be the one. I wouldn’t be against it, though. She’s too important of a warrior and extremely loyal to the crown to be Black Panther and protect people along with the Avengers. Wakanda would need her to be always around. It is possible for her to become Queen, though. 

M’BAKU

M’Baku is a great warrior and fierce leader of Wakanda’s Jabari Tribe. He would make a great candidate to become Black Panther and King as well. He could definitely handle himself in combat for the crown and/or the title of Black Panther. While he’s not my pick, I wouldn’t be against the MCU’s possible decision of making him the Black Panther.

KILLMONGER 

While Killmonger is dead, it wouldn’t stop the MCU from bringing him back. Now that time travel exists, who knows what is possible? Of course, it’s also possible that T’Challah didn’t actually let his cousin die and instead healed him, followed by imprisoning him for his crimes. If that’s the case, the story for him would be redemption. As far as the fight to become King and/or Black Panther, he’s done it before, so his ability wouldn’t be in question. However, would the people of Wakanda really trust him after what he did? It’s highly unlikely. 

Once again, I’m trying to discuss specifically who will become the Black Panther, and not necessarily who will lead Wakanda, as the roles aren’t one and the same. My pick for Black Panther is someone who had a big role in the first movie, Nakia. Nakia is the leader of the War Dogs, a group that go on covert missions on behalf of Wakanda to help and protect people. As we saw in Black Panther, she was in Kenya trying to help a group of refugees to escape being victims of human trafficking. T’Challah, Okoye, and other members of the Dora Milage arrived to help, as well as to inform Nakia of King T’Chaka’s passing.

To me, Nakia being the leader of the War Dogs proves why she makes the perfect candidate to become the Black Panther. She’s already a skilled warrior, has helped the world behind the scenes for years, and in Black Panther, especially including one of its credit scenes, has proved to become an integral part of Wakanda diplomatically opening up to the rest of the world. She helped T’Challah come to that conclusion in a much better way than Killmonger attempted to. 

I believe she’d have little to no issues in combat for the right to become the Black Panther. With that being said, the way she handles herself combined with her ideals mean that being Queen would interfere with her life. Therefore, someone else could become the new leader of Wakanda’s royalty, whereas Nakia could become the Black Panther and her experience as a War Dog would make her the perfect international ally for the Avengers. 

This is obviously just my opinion and speculation as to who will become Black Panther. It is interesting to think about. I’m looking forward to Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Would any of these characters be your picks? Could it possibly even be someone else? I’m more than open to opinions and comments on the subject.