Black Panther 3 Must Still Happen (To End The Franchise)

The MCU's Black Panther franchise needs to come to an end in Black Panther 3. Chadwick Boseman debuted as T'Challa, a.k.a. the Black Panther, during Captain America: Civil War, but his story and the history of Wakanda were developed further when Ryan Coogler took the reins of Black Panther and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Coogler introduced a completely different culture in the MCU and mastered the delivery of a heartfelt story in the wake of Boseman's 2020 passing, but the Black Panther's story isn't over yet, so a third film in the franchise needs to be produced.

Speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference, Disney CEO Bob Iger revealed that future plans for the Marvel Cinematic Universe would be changing, with more focus put on introducing new characters and less on developing often-unnecessary sequels for existing properties. These comments came after poor receptions to projects such as Thor: Love & Thunder and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania but could throw the futures of several popular franchises into disarray. As the third film in the franchise, Black Panther 3 could be on the chopping block.

Black Panther 3 Needs To Deliver On Wakanda Forever's Post-Credits Setup

T'Challa and Nakia's son Toussaint in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

While Iger's comments could suggest that Black Panther 3 might never come to fruition, the Black Panther franchise needs a third installment, not least because Black Panther: Wakanda Forever directly set up several storylines for further films. The biggest of these came during Wakanda Forever's post-credits scene, which debuted Divine Love Konadu-Sun as Toussaint, the secret son of T'Challa and Nakia, who had been raised in Haiti to avoid the pressures of the Wakandan throne. Black Panther 3 could provide more explanation for Toussaint's surprise appearance and potentially set him up as a future MCU hero.

As well as paying off the Toussaint setup from Wakanda Forever, Black Panther 3 can focus on Shuri's new career as the MCU's Black Panther, following in her late brother's footsteps. Wakanda Forever also featured the MCU introduction of Namor and his underwater nation of Talokan, which shares some striking resemblances to Wakanda and will surely be important in future Black Panther projects. The ending of Wakanda Forever also seemed to feature M'Baku, leader of the Jabari Tribe, taking over the role of King of Wakanda, so there is plenty of material for further installments in the Black Panther franchise.

Black Panther 3 Could Be The Last Black Panther Film In The MCU

m'baku nakia shuri ramonda and okoye in black panther wakanda forever

Bob Iger's recent comments regarding the future of MCU stories could suggest that, should Black Panther 3 be developed, this would be the final film in the Black Panther franchise. However, it could be that Black Panther is the franchise that continues to develop, especially since Wakanda is such a huge nation, and only a fraction of it has so far been explored. Future Black Panther films could investigate new territories of Wakanda rather than focusing explicitly on the Wakandan Royal family, so further installments following Black Panther 3 might not fall into Iger's "unnecessary" category.

The Black Panther franchise has been one of the most popular in the MCU, not least as it gave representation to a culture that is seldom seen on the big screen. This would perhaps convince Iger and Marvel Studios to keep the franchise going for as long as possible. Even if the Black Panther films come to an end after Black Panther 3, two Disney+ series' are reported to be in development, with one centered on Wakanda itself and the other exploring Okoye, Danai Gurira's former Dora Milaje General who became a Midnight Angel during Wakanda Forever, so Wakandan stories will continue to be told in the MCU either way.

How Black Panther 3 Could End The Franchise

There are several ways that Black Panther 3 could bring the franchise to a satisfying ending while still leaving some threads loose enough that they can be followed in other MCU projects. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever gave audiences a tease of the devastation that Namor and the Talokanil could cause to Wakanda, so perhaps something catastrophic could happen in Black Panther 3 to wipe Wakanda off the map, meaning no future MCU stories could be set in the advanced nation. This could be connected to the world governments' vibranium race that became much more prominent in Wakanda Forever, and even to Thunderbolts rumors that the team will be infiltrating Wakanda.

Black Panther 3 could also focus more intensely on Toussaint and his rise to King and Black Panther in the MCU, potentially setting him up for future appearances alongside the likes of the Young Avengers, which would negate the need for Black Panther-centric stories. The franchise could even be completely reworked to veer away from the Black Panther and focus instead on other Wakandan heroes, such as the Dora Milaje or the Midnight Angels, who debuted in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Whatever happens, the Black Panther franchise certainly has many more stories to tell and shouldn't be dismissed so quickly.

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