Black Panther Wakanda Forever Easter Eggs: The best way to relive the experience of a Marvel movie is by listing all the future possibilities hinted at during the film’s duration or by simply going through all the brief yet grand inter-textual references made therein. The final theatrical release of Phase Four isn’t short of such allusions either.
Be it the introduction of some new characters or remembering some old ones, Marvel knows how to pull and play with our heartstrings. Let’s go through all those references together. We may have missed out on some as well, so please let us know if we did at the end of the article.
Black Panther Wakanda Forever Easter Eggs Explained
The Marvel Intro: A Tribute to Chadwick Boseman
Each Marvel intro has a taste of its own, and this was a bit extra special since it paid its respects to the late Chadwick Boseman with a silent yet thoughtful visual. As each letter of the Marvel logo took shape, all of them embodied the actor’s contribution to the Studios and the lore as the former bearer of the titular symbol of hope and representation among the audience. The entire theatre fell silent while witnessing this solemn farewell.
Griot – Trevor Noah
Shuri developed this iteration of artificial intelligence, and her interactions with it are a loud reminder of Tony Stark’s back-and-forth dialog with Jarvis. Queen Ramonda even goes on to comment how one-day artificial intelligence will be the death of humankind, again recalling the event of Avengers: Age of Ultron, when Stark’s Ultron, another version of A.I., essentially came to life, while Stark started seeing visions of all Avengers lying defeated and dead.
However, Shuri claims her version to be safer, especially since she knows or has an idea of Stark’s dilemma. Moreover, Griot has been voiced by Trevor Noah, the notable South American comedian.
Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine
Oh, we love to keep seeing certain Marvel characters pop up almost everywhere. The first character to have achieved these several recurrent short appearances in the MCU was Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury, whom we love. Looks like there’s a new sheriff in town as we’ve come to see lesser and lesser of Fury, but Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ De Fontaine (or Val), the director of C.I.A., whose presence always makes us all wonder what storm is brewing next.
She previously featured in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, when she came for the U.S. Agent and then, in the mid-credits scene of Black Widow, recruited Yelena (Florence Pugh). However, her coming back in the sequel of Black Panther was a bit problematic for our favorite C.I.A. operative Everett Ross, the former husband of De Fontaine.
In Wakanda Forever, she sticks around for a bit longer than in her previous cameos, spying on the interactions between Ross and Queen Ramonda. Her role in MCU’s future is headed toward the upcoming anti-hero squad film Thunderbolts, which will be bringing together Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Red Justice (David Harbour), Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), and Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen). Besides that, she’s also renowned as Madame Hydra in the comics, but there’s no confirmation now about whether the MCU wants to head into that territory.
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Riri Williams – Ironheart – M.I.T. – Stark Tech
Dominique Thorne’s Riri Williams has finally made her way to the MCU. Adorning the first-of-its-kind Ironheart suit, the character packs in a nostalgic throwback to the visions of Tony Stark wearing the Iron-Man suit. Even her supposed recruitment or protection plan headed by Princess Shuri and Okoye takes back to when Stark recruited Peter in Captain America: Civil War. Shuri even asks Riri if she’d been working on Stark Tech. Her superhero avatar has been fashioned out as the early Iron Man.
Just like Peter was rather more concerned about his “homework” on being asked to tag along, Williams is more interested in heading out for a lecture at M.I.T. when Shuri demands that she needs to come with her to Wakanda. Plus, Marvel’s geniuses can’t seem to settle below the standards of M.I.T. Back when we all knew who Spider-Man was, even Peter wanted to start his graduation at the same university, so is it possible that MJ, Ned, and Riri have all been attending the same school? And, will she ever meet Peter in the future?
Namor – Mutants
Namor, the sub-mariner ruler of the people of Talokan, has formally been introduced as the first character who self-proclaims himself to be a mutant in the canonical MCU. We’ve already met Professor X in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but we all know how that ended.
Upon bringing Shuri to his underwater kingdom, Namor tells her that he was born with long, pointed ears and winged feet, thus making him a mutant. The movie also portrays how the water strengthens Namor and that he’s been alive for a long time. Fans have been beating around the bush since the beginning, waiting for Marvel to open the gate for the mutants to walk in.
Initially, only the Fox side of Marvel characters, the X-Men, were mutants. However, since Namor claims his story is a marker of his mutant origins, this has deep connotations for the future of MCU, which is set to welcome these very characters to the Disney side now. Deadpool 3 is already bringing back Wade Wilson and Wolverine. In addition to all these old characters, it’s also been teased that Kamala Khan or Ms. Marvel has “mutated genes.” Therefore, the alarm has been sounded for the “mutant and proud” movement.
Namor – Kukulkan
The people of Talokan refer to Namor as Kukulkan throughout the sequel of Black Panther. So, who is he? Kukulkan is the Mesoamerican Feathered Serpent Deity, and M’Baku is the one who makes this clear once all the clans are gathered at J’Abariland. Yet, Namor isn’t a god; he is more of a mutant, as mentioned before.
Coogler’s writing appreciates this Mayan history by hinting at probably how long Namor has been alive since his people take his winged-feet appearance as a vision to be revered, owing to the original deity’s symbolic presence. His people have raised him to the stature of the predating deity out of respect for him.
Lake Bell’s Live-Action Debut
Previously heard in the animated series What If…? as Natasha Romanoff or the Black Widow, actress Lake Bell received her live-action debut, this time as one of the C.I.A. agents in search of Vibranium elsewhere. Now that the second season of the animates series is confirmed, we will hopefully hear her voice again because, visually, she didn’t survive the night after the Talokanils attacked her team.
Bashenga
Bashenga’s discovery is harked at since Killmonger ordered for all the heart-shaped herbs to be burnt in the previous film, eliminating any possible rival. The man so mentioned was a warrior shaman, the first man ever to ingest the magic herb and become the Black Panther.
The Abundance of Vibranium
It was believed that Wakanda was the sole location hit by the Vibranium meteorite, thus giving birth to the heart-shaped herb responsible for the Black Panther’s power. However, that proved to be a baseless fact because a place in South America was hit as well.
Talokanils decocted the extract of the other source of Vibranium in their respective way, which eventually turned them blue and accorded them indomitable physical strength, just like Wakandans. What are the odds that another location will pop up on the globe with Vibranium later?
The Ancestral Plane – Shuri – Her Suit – Killmonger – T’Challa
When Shuri ingests the heart-shaped herb’s artificial decoction to gain the Black Panther’s powers, her conscience is transported to the Ancestral Plane as per the expected tradition. In hopes of meeting her mother, Queen Ramonda, she’s disappointed to meet her cousin Erik Killmonger (Michael B Jordan) instead.
Driven by her vengeful thoughts at the time, her emotions mirror the ones harbored by Killmonger in the first movie. And so, his words drive her to the edge once again, thinking she’s been abandoned by her brother and mother. Upon waking up and realizing that the powers have manifested in her, she picks a suit that reflects the gold visage of Killmonger’s suit in the first outing, highlighting her drive for vengeance.
T’Challa also followed the same path of vengeance in Avengers: Civil War, as he was determined to kill Baron Zemo, the murderer of his father. Similarly, the finality of the fight scene between Shuri and Namor is sealed when the former sees Queen Ramonda’s vision urging her to “Show him who you are,” the same thing she said to T’Challa previously as well.
Namor’s Hulk-like Power
Though a mighty brief mention, the Hulk’s name is also called out in Wakanda Forever. When all clans are gathered together at J’Abariland after Namor’s attack in Wakanda, M’Baku lets out a comparison between the Hulk and Namor by calling the latter as strong as the former.
Prince T’Challa
Born after the Blip, Nakia’s son bears his Haitian Toussaint to stay put from the “pressures of the throne,” Otherwise, he also goes by Prince T’Challa, the son of the former King. It was both his parents’ collaborative decision for him to be raised away from the throne, which is also why Nakia didn’t come back for his funeral at the time.
Serving as a heartfelt continuation of Chadwick Boseman’s legacy, the young boy can now carry forward all the Black Panther lore in his name. Moreover, Marvel is making visible attempts to develop the younger side of heroes, as we already have Riri Williams, Thor’s adopted daughter Love, Ant-Man’s daughter Cassie Lang and possibly more on the way. Maybe they could team up in the future, or the Price could himself ascend the throne and wield the Black Panther mantle. Whatever it is, there are a lot of thrilling possibilities out there.
“Imperius Rex”
A direct nod to Namor’s comic accuracy, as it’s his catchphrase pulled straight out of the comics. Namor utters these words during his fight with Shuri.
The Midnight Angel Armor
Okoye and Aneka have now been promoted to Shuri’s legion of the Midnight Angels from serving alongside the Dora Milaje previously. Shuri’s armors constructed with Vibranium are a force to reckon with and are essentially a direct inspiration from the comics. They will possibly further carry out covert missions, just like they did in the comics.
There were various mentions and references to characters within the MCU or some lore outside the comics. If we missed mentioning something you caught while watching the film, please let us know in the comments section below. We would love to read through them.
Black Panther Wakanda Forever is out in theatres, while the first movie is available on Disney+ Hotstar.
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