When Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa announced to everyone at the end of Black Panther that Wakanda was set to become a major player on the world stage, it opened up the secretive African nation to play a much larger role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole.
Obviously, though, that didn’t go so well in Avengers: Infinity War after Wakanda served as the main battlefield for the first scrap between Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and the forces of Thanos, which ended with half of all life in the universe being wiped out. Luckily, however, things returned to normal by the time Endgame was over, and we’ve now got next summer’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Ryan Coogler’s Disney Plus spinoff in the works to look forward to.
But that’s not all, as we’ve heard from our sources this week – the same ones who told us the project was in development long before it was confirmed – that Wakanda will play a big part in the narrative of Captain America 4. Specifics remain unclear for now, but looking at the sheer number of connections and established ties between Sam Wilson, Bucky Barnes and the country itself, it makes a great deal of sense.
Bucky hid out in Wakanda while he was the most wanted fugitive on the planet, getting himself a new arm in the process, while Shuri’s team of tech wizards were responsible for crafting Sam’s shiny star-spangled ensemble. Throw in the fact that it was Bucky who handed Zemo over to the Dora Milaje to face justice for the murder of King T’Chaka, and there aren’t a lot of storytelling dots that require joining to have it make sense within the context of Captain America 4, dependent on how the Black Panther sequel pans out of course.