Black Panther 2 Script Ideas

The passing of Chadwick Boseman was a devastating day for comic book movie fans and anyone with a deep appreciation of sensational acting. His run as Black Panther was simply incredible, hitting back-to-back-to-back home runs in Civil War, Black Panther and Infinity War. His solo movie was so good that the Oscars almost created a new category for popularity, but instead decided to nominate it for best picture (it would have won if the Oscars weren't racist).

The greatest impact from Chadwick's death is the question of how it will affect Black Panther 2 now titled, Wakanda Forever. Ryan Coogler is back to direct and now faces the difficult challenge of writing the death of the Black Panther into this movie. We might be able to help with that problem.

There's no easy way to incorporate the death of T'challa into the film. The movie will have to explain both his absence during the 5-year blip, then coming back and dying again within a short time window after Tony Stark's funeral. It would be very interesting to see how Wakanda handled the disappearance of their King during this period. Would it have descended into a chaotic state of civil war as the different tribes challenge for the throne?

With Chadwick Boseman gone, the film will need to focus on Shuri, the other breakout star from the Black Panther franchise (and the winner of our best supporting actress of the decade award). If we assume T'challa dies within a year of reappearing after the blip, then Shuri will have to deal with the loss of her brother and a country on the brink of societal collapse. Coming up with an explanation for T'challa's death is going to be hard but the Cinema Analytica team has come up with some ideas on how this can be done. 

Instead of just killing T'challa off-screen or an assassination attempt, let's say the source of the Black Panther's power, the heart shaped herb actually had deadly long-term side effects. What if prolonged exposure to the heart shaped herb would eventually cause a not yet curable form of cancer or a similar type of disease? This could be a way that they kill T'challa without having to shoot new footage or digitally recreate Chadwick Boseman. He can simply slip into a coma shortly after the Stark funeral. 

You could have Shuri working tirelessly to develop a cure, then blip away, then return to find out that her brother doesn't have much time left to live. She doesn't find the cure in time and must deal with the guilt of not being able to save her brother's life. So a potential character arc for Shuri could be her dealing with losing her brother, while also trying to figure out how to rule Wakanda, while civil unrest unfolds in the country. 

If part of Black Panther 2 takes place during the blip, the country is going to have to deal with the loss of both T'challa and Shuri. It's hinted at that Shuri also disappeared which no doubt left a power struggle within the country. If all members of the Wakandan royal family die, how is the country supposed to handle that? It's possible that T'Challa's mother took the throne, or perhaps M'Baku. There may even have been a period of peace and prosperity under the interim leadership in a post-snap Wakanda (as Thanos might have predicted).

The film can open right after the blip in Infinity War. Wakanda was ground zero for the snap so the country as a whole is going to have the hardest initial impact. They undoubtedly already suffered heavily casualties in the alien invasion, then lost half the survivors. How was the remaining government able to sustain control amid all the chaos? Or was the 5-year blip period actually a prosperous time? The film could then delve into the social and economic impacts of losing half of the country's population and how much of their advanced technology shuts down simply because Shuri isn't there to operate it.   

At the end of the first Black Panther, T'challa promises to open the country to the rest of the world, and let's pretend they do exactly that. What if there was a brutal civil war in a neighboring African country, and there were thousands of refugees fleeing that crisis. What if Wakanda opened up its borders to nearby refugees then faced the challenge of needing to evict them as soon as their domestic population comes back? How would Wakanda deal with the housing crisis? How would the other tribes view welcoming more and more outsiders? The idea of the blip displacing millions of people is touched upon in Falcon and the Winter Solider with the Flagsmashers but the storyline could be refined. 

With Shuri in charge, she is going to have to find a solution to the refugee crisis. She will face some difficult pressure from the internal population regarding the refugees brought in during the blip. The principal villain of the film can be a Warlord in their civil war-torn neighbor that had thousands of refugees pouring into Wakanda. This dictator could potentially be the introduction of the MCU's Dr. Doom preferably played by Denzel Washington. 

The villain had a plan to send sleeper agents into Wakanda disguised as refugees. Their mission is to acquire Wakandan technology and infiltrate their security apparatus. With all the soldiers killed in the alien invasion and finger snap, there are plenty of job openings available in this sector. Everything can be wonderful and functional during the blip period, but the shit hits the fan once half of the population blips back and the refugees are displaced. Denzel can execute a coup while T'Challa is at Tony Stark's funeral, but T'Challa falls ill shortly after.

Desperate for a solution, Shuri turns to a revived Killmonger to help save Wakanda from Dr. Doom's attack. Killmonger is initially hesitant to fight back then Shuri explains that he'll die due to the cancer caused by the heart shaped herb. Shuri explains that she couldn't save T'Challa in time but has a chance to save Killmonger before it's to late. 

Alternatively, Killmonger could have been saved shortly after the end of the first Black Panther and was not snapped away. He could be sent back to the United States and and help with Wakanda's outreach program. Having Killmonger living in the US in the late 2010's and early 2020's offers some incredible story ideas. For starters, there could be a montage of him marching Black Lives Matter protests set to the song Voice of the Voiceless by Rage Against the Machine. Rising up against police brutality and systematic racism is surely something Killmonger would do.

Shuri convinces Killmonger to help her reclaim Wakanda, in exchange for curing his pending illness. This leads to the possibility of a scene between Michael B Jordan and Denzel Washington. They can exchange dialogue about how Killmonger used to be like Dr. Doom then tells him it's a bad path to go down. The cinematic tension from this scene alone would be worth the price of admission. Denzel escapes, but not without billions of dollars worth of Wakandan technology and vibrainium.

The end or the last third of the movie can be entirely dedicated to Chadwick Boseman. It would be like the Tony Stark funeral times a thousand. Have every citizen of Wakanda at the King’s funeral and have each person that was close to him give a speech. You can even have Killmonger give speech about how learned to appreciate T'Challa and have him admit he feels guilty for trying to kill him. You could have every living Avenger be present at this funeral too. Everyone will want to be there. It wouldn't be hard to convince the actors to show up. This scene would require very little actual acting due to the weight of losing Chadwick Boseman alone. 

If Disney and Ryan Coogler are still trying to figure this mess out, we have some great ideas that can be incorporated into Black Panther 2. Have the story focus on Shuri, Wakanda struggling with a refugee crisis and a subsequent insurrection, then have a giant funeral for Chadwick Boseman. 

Just give them the Oscar now...