MCU: Wakanda Investigated Howard Stark's Death

Marvel have revealed that the MCU's King T'Chaka had Howard Stark's death investigated. Tony Stark's (Robert Downey Jr.) father was an integral part of the universe long before he became Iron Man. The older Stark played a pivotal role in the Super Soldier program that birthed Captain America (Chris Evans) and was a founding member of SHIELD. Between this and his massive wealth, he'd become a high profile figure which was why his death was such a big deal.

Initially, Howard and his wife's, Maria (Hope Davis), death was deemed an accident. Jon Favreau's Iron Man from 2008 briefly mentioned this as part of the movie's expository scene setting up Tony Stark's backstory. Marvel Studios further tackled Howard's personal and professional life in succeeding films like Iron Man 2 and Captain America: The First Avenger. But, it wasn't until Captain America: Civil War that the full truth of the Starks' deaths was revealed.

As it turns out, there was foul play in the car accident that killed the Starks, and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), who was still operating as a HYDRA assassin under code name Winter Soldier was behind it. This became the personal rift that further drove Iron Man and Captain America apart as Steve intentionally hid this information from his fellow Avenger. While this was fresh news to Tony, King T'Chaka of Wakanda knew about the murder all along as revealed in the newly-released book, Wakanda Files. Here's what's documented in the "War Dog Files of Wakanda" segment in relation to what T'Chaka was told about Howard's death:

My King, I have returned to Oakland following my investigation of the crash site. It is obvious there was foul play and valuable property was stolen from Stark. Would you like me to continue the investigation?

The book does not provide additional information on whether the King had his War Dogs look more into the Starks' death. While it's easy to assume that he would want to get to the bottom of this mystery, it's worth noting that T'Chaka was also adamant about keeping a low profile for Wakanda, so they didn't meddle with matters that didn't directly concern their nation. He was, infamously, so committed to keeping Wakanda and its vast resources hidden that he turned his back on his brother, N'Jobu (Sterling K. Brown) and nephew, N'Jadaka/Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan). This was what made him different from T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman) who criticized his father and ancestors for opting to stand on the sidelines and not get involved with global issues even though they have the capacity to help. Given this, it's possible that as he always did, he stayed put and kept the murder a secret until Tony learned about it in Civil War.

What's curious here is whether or not T'Chaka was keeping an eye on worldwide events or he was only particularly interested in Howard's death. As far as MCU's official canon is concerned, the pair never met, but that doesn't mean that they never really did. At this point, it's still unclear where Howard got the Vibranium he used on Captain America's shield and as revealed in Black Panther, the metal can only be found in Wakanda. There are two potential explanations to do this: either Howard smuggled the resource or it was given to him. Regardless, his possession of Vibranium effectively links him to Wakanda, which could explain why King T'Chaka was intrigued by the nature of his death in the first place.

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