Quote Originally Posted by Pumbaa View Post
Yeah, I get you. Its just weird that they started so early with Black Panther. The throne of Wakanda has changed hands 5 times since T'challa's introduction in Civil War and he's only had 1 solo movie. Imagine if Caps shield, Iron man's armor or Thor's hammer had been handed to other people 5 times before their second movie. Would it feel like theirs or just theirs for now?

Now that I'm thinking about it, whoever was on the throne in the 5 year time jump in Endgame has actually been on the throne longer than T'challa was. We dont know who it was but the MCU has forced us to imagine it now. And before we got confirmation that Shuri got dusted, many fans assumed she was on the throne so people grew comfortable imagining Wakanda with a queen too.
Well yea, I've been saying this for months. The Russos unintentionally did some damage to the Black Panther mythos with the changes they made to his origin for Civil War, and how they handled the fallout of the events of Infinity War in Endgame for Wakanda. Even taking Wakanda out of it, the five year gap was completely unnecessary to that story and the only person it benefitted was Tony Stark who could have a daughter young enough to be adorable but old enough to not be a baby. All of this is stuff Coogler is/was forced to worked with because he has to abide by continuity and I never liked that.

But I also think this is to be expected a little bit when you're dealing with a character that is both a king and inherits a warrior mantle. Someone else wanting to be king and/or Black Panther has always been a plot point in T'Challa's stories. Thor's slightly different because he doesn't want to be king and just wants to protect the nine realms. T'Challa has always struggled to find the right balance in being an Avenger for the world and being king of Wakanda. Adding Shuri to the mix, who is next in line if T'Challa doesn't marry and have kids makes it worse.

But I also think the idea that the Black Panther is a mantle and not a codename exclusive to T'Challa is a good thing sometimes, and I feel Coogler's plans were to emphasize that. I think he was really trying to turn the Black Panther into a positive symbol for black youths that they could aspire to. More Superman and Spider-Man and less Batman. Like he was more concerned about showing T'Challa as a good person and less of a cool guy (even though you still got that). I think that's why you have that scene at the very end of the film with that young black boy in awe asking T'Challa who he is, and T'Challa just smiles at him.

Of course I think he meant to do this more with T'Challa and Chadwick Boseman more in completion before the mantle could have been passed down. But maybe those plans will change.