Originally Posted by
chief12d
If Shuri does get the mantle (right now at least), it's the end of the BP franchise as a T'Challa-led series as we know it. Shuri checks more diversity boxes than him and by the end of her tenure in the MCU she'll very likely be more popular as well. Marvel goes back to the "Man Without Fear" era of her as the "real" BP and queen while T'Challa becomes a free entity.
Shuri becomes the default BP in video games and other media and in the comics she probably becomes the BP on the main Avengers team. Who gets the solo ongoing is anyone's guess but it'll most likely be a buddy cop thing. It'll be a huge shift if they really go all in on the synergy.
Now, we were probably gonna get to that point anyway, just not to the same degree or this quickly. I think Shuri was always going to get the mantle eventually, but at least T'Challa would've been established for a generation with the level of depth and development Tony and Steve got before getting replaced. So instead of being a short-lived predecessor to Shuri, T'Challa would be an icon unto himself.
The comics would be forced to keep him at the head of the mythos or at least give them equal billing, because the MCU is what's been driving his push. If T'Challa is replaced with Shuri, who will go on to become this generation's BP, then Marvel could easily position her as the new face of the franchise both in and out of comics. T'Challa will be kept around, sure, but not with the same degree of prominence.
And it's arguably because Disney/Marvel wants more prominent female characters, especially women of color, that I suspect they're leaning towards a shifting of the mantle. They already got Blade coming in, so at least for now they have a prominent solo black-male led franchise. Once his movie comes out dude will probably be kept in consistent publication.
And as long as they keep T'Challa around in the comics, make him available in DLCs, and use him slightly in animation (which is irrelevant anyway), they still technically have a prominent black male in the BP mythos, even if it will ostensibly led by a female. I could see the appeal for them with that agenda in mind. The question is will Shuri be as successful across all mediums as T'Challa? And of course if creators even want to use her as the "true" BP.