While rumors persist that Shuri (Letitia Wright) will take on her brother's mantle in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, becoming the next Black Panther would likely limit her MCU future. While she did become the Black Panther briefly in the original comics, she's since undergone a dynamic and beautiful transformation in recent years that should be seen on-screen. However, it would be a lot harder to pull off if she ends up becoming Wakanda's next protector as the new Black Panther.

As seen in the new trailer for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the most powerful nation in the MCU is grieving the loss of King T'Challa (mirroring the very real and tragic loss of the late Chadwick Boseman). As such, the majority of the new footage depicts Shuri, Nakia, Queen Ramonda, and more struggling to move forward while keeping Wakanda safe in the face of Namor and his undersea nation, which is revealed to be Talocan rather than Atlantis. However, the final shot does see a new Black Panther having risen - though their face isn't revealed.

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Given the comics' precedent and the idea of royal succession, there's a fair amount of logic behind Princess Shuri taking her brother's place as the next Black Panther. However, Shuri's time in the role was relatively short in the comics. Instead, she received a far more personal and unique journey that made her just as important to Wakanda as T'Challa's Black Panther. Here's how becoming the MCU's next Black Panther would limit Shuri from reaching her full potential.

What Happens To Shuri's Black Panther In The Comics

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In the comics, Shuri became the Black Panther after T'Challa was temporarily incapacitated by the Cabal, the supervillains' answer to Marvel's Illuminati. Despite T'Challa's recovery, Shuri would continue to serve as Wakanda's Queen and Black Panther, allowing T'Challa to have more freedom as a hero. Shuri would go on to defend Wakanda from multiple attacks from the likes of both Doctor Doom and Namor. However, an attack carried out by a new Cabal resulted in Shuri giving her life to buy her brother time to save their nation. Encased within an amber-like substance, Shuri was trapped in "a living death," with T'Challa attempting everything he could to bring her back. While she was eventually freed and her spirit was returned to her body, Shuri had become something far different (and arguably more powerful) than the Black Panther she once was.

Shuri As The New Black Panther Wouldn't Be Her Best MCU Story

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As seen in Ta-Nehisi Coates' run on Black Panther, which began in 2016 and served as a key inspiration for the first Black Panther film, Shuri was eventually revived thanks to the efforts of T'Challa and the reality-bending hero known as Manifold. However, the original Black Panther wasn't counting on Shuri having transcended as a whole new kind of Wakandan hero in the interim. During her living death, Shuri's spirit was taken to the Djalia, a corresponding Wakanda realm of existence connected to the Black Panther's Ancestral Plane. There she was guided by a griot spirit (effectively a storyteller) who instructed and taught her how to become a supernatural representative of Wakanda's collective memory, both known and long-forgotten. Now, Shuri currently wields a whole host of new powers in the comics such as increased speed and agility, the ability to turn to stone, necromancy, and can also transform herself into a flock of black birds. Likewise, she also serves as a living conduit to the Djalia.

Becoming this new kind of hero tasked with representing the collective memory of Wakanda is perfectly contrasted with Shuri's role as Wakanda's leading innovator having helped usher her nation into the future with all their technological advancements (far surpassing any other nation in the MCU). In the comics, Shuri effectively has one foot in the past with one in the future, making her an incredibly important hero of Wakanda dedicated to helping her people progress without forgetting their origins and history. However, this same journey would be a lot harder to depict in the MCU if Shuri becomes the new Black Panther for the long term. Becoming Wakanda's greatest warrior would likely become Shuri's dominant arc in the MCU going forward, thus limiting the full potential she's reached in the comics to be seen on the screen. As a promising Easter egg, the new Black Panther: Wakanda Forever trailer does feature Shuri wearing the same bone earrings she started wearing after her transformation in the comics.

Related: Black Panther 2: Why Wakanda Is At War With Atlantis

Who Should Be The New Black Panther Instead Of Shuri

Nakia and new Black Panther in Black Panther Wakanda Forever trailer

Rather than Princess Shuri taking on the mantle, the MCU should make Lupita Nyong'o's Nakia the new Black Panther instead. Not only was she the love of T'Challa's life, but her role as a spy was much more ambiguous following the first Black Panther film when compared to Shuri who's very much still the head of the Wakandan Design Group. Likewise, Nakia was the one who convinced T'Challa to look at the larger world beyond the borders of Wakanda, wanting to share their nation's great resources with those in need. While not a member of Wakanda's royal line, Nakia has a hero's heart that would make her incredibly well-suited to become the next Black Panther, an incredibly dynamic way to honor the man she loved and the legacy which he stood for. The first Black Panther movie did show that Nakia was the River Tribe's chosen warrior should she be motivated to claim the mantle in the face of Namor and his forces.

If Shuri is allowed to continue her on-screen journey without becoming the MCU's next Black Panther, her future has the potential to be so much bigger. She could easily reach the same potential seen in the comics. Likewise, this would allow Nakia to claim the mantle, thereby making her role bigger and far more important than what's been seen thus far in the MCU. At any rate, fans will get the answer about the next hero of Wakanda when Black Panther: Wakanda Forever comes to theaters in November.

More: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Updates - Story, Cast, Trailer & Release Date

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