Did 'My Hero Academia' Drop A 'Black Panther' Reference?

Black Panther fans around the world can be seen flashing the Wakanda Forever salute, but it also [...]

By Matthew Aguilar

Black Panther fans around the world can be seen flashing the Wakanda Forever salute, but it also made its way into My Hero Academia.

The Wakanda Forever salute can be seen a number of times in Marvel's Black Panther, and Funimation shared an image from My Hero Academia to show that Izuku is also a big fan. He can be seen crossing both arms in the image, and T'Challa would be quite proud.

Thing is several in the comments recognize the salute as a reference to other characters, not Black Panther. Some looked to something even more recent in Deadpool's X-Force, though that was a parody of Black Panther's Wakanda Forever to be fair.

Others give the credit to Rock Lee of Naruto fame, as once he removed his weights and let loose he also boasted a crossed arm gesture. Others credit the pose as an homage to Bleach's Don Kanonji, and both would be right in that case, as both shows predated Black Panther's Marvel Studios debut.

Still, Black Panther happens to be fresh in everyone's minds, so you can expect that film to get most of the credit. Who knows, maybe Izuku just saw the movie and wanted to represent! You don't know, it could happen!

For those not familiar with My Hero Academia, the series was created by Kohei Horikoshi in 2014 and has run in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump since July of that year. It follows the adventures of Izuku Midoriya, who in a world full of people with powers was born without one. In this world, those powers are called quirks, and life without one can be difficult, but that all changes after a fateful meeting with the biggest hero of them all All Might, and it seems his quest to become a hero might just happen after all.

While you can't get a Deku Wakanda Forever Funko POP at the moment, you can get plenty of other slick looking characters in the new My Hero Academia wave, which you can check out here.

Fans of the show can also look forward to a new movie, the first for My Hero Academia. My Hero Academia: The Movie - The Two Heroes will cover a brand new story not seen in the manga, and will even feature some glimpses of All Mighty in his prime. Fans can see My Hero Academia: The Movie - The Two Heroes in theaters on August 3.

Black Panther is available on home video now.

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