The Marvel Cinematic Universe is continuing to expand its horizons in Phase Four with a number of Disney+ television series. Although Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will be one of the film entries, there will also be a show based on the country and it will deal with matters there in greater detail than the movie.
This places it as the best backdrop to explain the effects of the Snap completed by Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War. Other shows like The Falcon and the Winter Soldier have dealt with this aspect worldwide, but since Wakanda is an essential part of the MCU, the Disney+ series will need to answer fans’ questions over what happened during the five-year gap before the Snap was reversed.
Who Led Wakanda During The Blip?
This is one of the most frequent questions about Wakanda that Marvel fans have, as there was a full five-year gap that’s been largely unaccounted for. The ending of Avengers: Endgame showed T’Challa back as the king, which sounds logical but doesn’t take his absence into consideration.
Okoye was implied to be running Wakanda based on her conversation with Natasha, but that shouldn’t be the case if the line of succession comes into play. The TV series needs to confirm what the fallout from the Snap was straight after T’Challa’s demise and how the title of king was passed back to him.
Did Wakanda Continue Taking In People?
After the conflict with Erik Killonger, T’Challa was right about opening Wakanda to the world and accepting outsiders. This was shown in effect when the Avengers arrived in Infinity War, but would be a point of contention after the Snap.
Considering the decision was T’Challa’s, it would have been up for discussion again if welcoming people was the way to go. After all, the majority of tribal leaders were initially against this choice, which leaves the TV series with the task of confirming if Wakanda continued this practice or went back to being isolated.
Was The Earthquake Under The Ocean A Result Of The Snap?
The area around the country is another aspect of Wakanda the Disney+ series has to explain. In Avengers: Endgame, Okoye revealed that an earthquake had taken place under the ocean and she was unaware of how to handle it.
This showed that Wakanda hadn’t experienced a similar issue before, leaving it ambiguous what the cause was. It would make sense that the Snap may have caused more harm than just erasing organic life, which the TV series can expand upon.
How Did Wakandans React After Everyone Came Back?
The immediate reaction of Hulk’s Snap has been shown in Spider-Man: Far From Home and WandaVision, which pointed toward total chaos. The situation in Wakanda is a little more ambiguous, as T’Challa and his forces arrived through Doctor Strange’s portal having already realized what had happened to them.
The Disney+ series can confirm the Wakandans’ point of view of everyone’s return, especially since the battlefield had a large number of people returning. It would also be interesting to see how civilians in the city reacted to this event.
Is Wakanda Still A Superpower?
The answer to this has more of a chance to be given in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, although Disney+ will definitely provide a detailed outlook. It’s unclear why the Wakandans didn’t help the world in the five-year gap through their technology, which calls into question whether or not the country is still as powerful.
There’s also the strong likelihood that Vibranium was taken outside the country in greater quantities since the Snap took away a lot of the population and security forces. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier didn’t have Wakandan leaders be part of the discussion over what to do about the Flag Smashers conflict, raising further questions about the country's position.
Did The Tribes Co-Exist During The Blip?
Wakanda has always been hanging by a thread as far as the tribes coexisting is concerned. In Black Panther, T’Challa had to deal with a few of them turning on him while he had to win M’Baku’s favor. In Avengers: Infinity War, only a few of the tribes arrived to help fight against Thanos.
With the Snap creating more problems, it’s natural to assume that the Wakandans were once again at odds with one another. If that wasn’t the case, it would require a change of character for the tribes to band together, which is something the Disney+ series will need to show for viewers to understand how everyone learned to coexist.
How Did Doctor Strange Communicate With T'Challa To Get To The Battle Of Earth?
Due to the unfortunate passing of Chadwick Boseman, the actual scene depicting this can’t play out. However, the MCU has frequently delivered exposition through dialogue, and this should be the case when it comes to letting viewers know how Doctor Strange interacted with T’Challa.
The two had never met before, and the king would’ve been confused enough as it is after coming back to life. Considering Strange was shown arriving from Titan, it’s unclear how T’Challa found out about the Battle of Earth. To this end, the TV series needs to at least drop a line to clarify how the Wakandans learned about Thanos’ return.
What Was Okoye's Role In T'Challa's Absence?
Okoye may have served as Natasha’s aide in Wakanda, but that isn’t enough to reveal what her role was. It didn’t appear as if she was the new queen, and what she was up to during the five-year period is also in question.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is likely to deal with Okoye’s current role rather than her former one, but the larger runtime of the TV series will offer more opportunities to expand on her past. This should include clarification of her place in Wakanda without Shuri and T’Challa.
Is Vibranium Still As Valuable As Before?
The reliance on Vibranium to keep the plot going is an MCU trope the Wakanda Disney+ series should avoid in general, but the show should also confirm its status. Vibranium should have become even more valuable after the Snap since there was already a lack of resources, yet the metal wasn’t in general use.
This raises the question of Vibranium losing its value, as Tony Stark dabbled in nanotechnology to arguably challenge the effectiveness of Vibranium. With the super-soldier serum also proving popular for the Flag Smashers, the Wakanda show should clarify if the Snap was responsible for Vibranium’s potential downturn in popularity.
Did T'Challa Need To Fight For The Throne Again?
Black Panther established that a new king can be challenged by a member of the tribe, with T’Challa defeating M’Baku to retain his place. Since the line of succession is unclear, as Shuri also perished in the Snap, it’s likely that another tribe member may have taken on the throne.
The ending of Avengers: Endgame showed T’Challa back as the king, but it may have been after winning the title back in ritual combat. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will likely not deal with this, but the Disney+ series will have the time to go into detail about the country’s traditions, thereby opening up the space to clarify if T’Challa had to fight again.