‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Easter Eggs & MCU Links
The Black Panther sequel has some hidden links to the MCU and the comics. Check out these Wakanda Forever Easter eggs!
The long-awaited sequel arrived in theaters this weekend. After the death of King T’Challa, Wakanda is in a period of mourning, and Queen Ramonda must help its people rebound and protect the country from outside forces. Other nations are hungry for Wakanda’s resources – a hunger that awakens an ancient civilization that’s not as diplomatic as Wakanda.
There are a lot of threads to other MCU projects, as well as a bunch of comic book callbacks. If you haven’t seen the movie, you’ll want to jump back to our spoiler-free review. Everyone else…
Spoilers After the Trailer
Wakanda Forever Easter Eggs
The MCU is known for its massive woven plots. There are a lot of threads in this movie that tie into upcoming MCU projects and other characters in the universe (often to the movie’s detriment, but I digress). Here are some of the bits and bobs that stood out to me during the movie.
M’Baku is still awesome and still a vegetarian (along with the rest of the Jabari Tribe). It was made clear by his snacking on a raw carrot early in the movie.
Bast – Shuri prays to the Wakandan panther god in the opening scene. She is based on Bastet, an Egyptian warrior goddess of the sun. In the Marvel pantheon, she’s the eldest of the Ennead and the child of Ra himself. We’ve also run into Bast in Moon Knight and Thor: Love & Thunder (played by Akosia Sabet).
via Marvel
Trevor Noah – aka a person you likely didn’t notice was in this movie. The South African comedian voiced Shuri’s AI assistant and Riri’s suit guidance system, Griot. He’s in good company – other AI actors include Paul Bettany, James Spader, and Jennifer Hale.
Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine – She’s had several cameos in the streaming shows, and now she has a formal title: director of the CIA. It looks like they’re positioning her as a Nick Fury meets Amanda Waller-type character. Val will also play a role in Thunderbolts, which will drop in 2024. We now know she’s Everett K. Ross’ ex-wife, but I don’t see why that’s important (if it’s not, it’s just annoying, and I wish they wouldn’t have).
Ant-Man – Scott Lang makes a fittingly small appearance in the chyron on the first CNN newscast. It mentions his memoir (Look Out For The Little Guy) to go along with his This Powered Life: Big Me, Little Me podcast that came up in Ms. Marvel. Another chyron later in the movie refers to a treaty being negotiated in New Asgard.
via Marvel
THEY SAID MUTANT AGAIN!
Moving on…
K’uk’ulkan – Namor shares his adopted name with the feathered serpent god of the Yucatec Maya. The same god was known to the Aztecs as Quetzalcoatl. The Mesoamerican deity has made several appearances in Marvel comics – his first was way back in Namora #1, which came out in 1948. K’uk’ulkan has also been seen in a couple of X-Men books.
“Imperius Rex” – Latin seems a little out of place in the final battle between Black Panther and the emperor of a hidden Mesoamerican nation, but it’s not. Namor’s use of it has links to the character on the page; he first used it in the 1970s, and it’s been a battle cry since. It’s a call back to the comics Namor (Roman backward) that resides in Greco-Roman Atlantis and the character’s creator Bill Everett.
Iron Man 2 – At one point, Namor mentions that he will not make his people move again. Meaning they’ve had to be nomadic. Think back to the second Iron Man movie, a discussion between Tony and Nick. The map behind them features many important SHIELD events, one of which hasn’t been explained. See that big dot in the middle of the Atlantic? Could that be the previous location of Tlālōcān – an early hint at Namor?
via Marvel
What did you see that I missed? Share in the comments!
