With Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, we have been given our new hero with Shuri, played by Letitia Wright, taking on the mantle of Wakanda’s protector. With the role remaining vacated for a year after her brother’s death, Shuri is finally able to synthesize the purple heart flower that had previously been destroyed by Killmonger in order to take on Namor.
We’re not sure what is next for Shuri; she will hopefully continue to appear as the Black Panther for some time within the MCU, but then there is the case of T’Challa’s son, Prince T’Challa, who may one day walk in his father’s footsteps. This is likely Marvel’s way of setting themselves up for him to become Black Panther in the distant future — after Phases Five and Six — as he is still too young to take on the role currently.
As it is, it looks like Shuri will potentially maintain the status as Black Panther for now, and in an interview with Cinepop ,Wright talked about which other superheroes she would love to work with moving forward. The actress responded,
“Spider-Man. Doctor Strange just in case we get into a little pickle and need to go through some portals. Dang this is really hard! You know I love the team at Guardians of the Galaxy. So all of them. So basically let’s put all of them together. Just a big family.”
Depending on how things go between now and the end of Phase Six, Wright might get her wish if all of the above feature in the two Avengers movies, The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars. Fans would love to see her interact with Tom Holland’s Spider-Man given the fact they are both young superheroes with genius intellects. In fact, Holland himself hoped to see the character meet after the first Black Panther film.
Wright also discussed which villains she would love to go up against her latest rival was at the top of her list.
“We definitely want to see Namor again. Thanos would be fun to resurrect. Some Doom, oh yeah Doom would be fun. If you know your stuff you know about Doom. That’s all I can say.”
A Thanos resurrection would be a surprise indeed, and it may be that we get a glimpse of the giant purple tyrant within the multiverse. Given just how popular Namor was within Wakanda Forever, we know we haven’t seen the last of him and he is tied now to Wakanda through their treaty to protect one another. Doom is likely on the way as well with the Fantastic Four finally making their way to the MCU in 2025, the character is one of the most speculated about when it comes to his casting right now.
You can catch Wright in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever available in cinemas till January.