Black Panther Is One of the First MCU Superheroes

Black Panther revealed the secret history of Wakanda and part of the secret is that Wakanda had a superhero long before Iron Man and even Captain America began fighting the good fight.

SPOILERS for Black Panther follow.

As told in the opening scenes of Black Panther, Wakanda is a kingdom built on the power of vibranium, a powerful metal that arrived on an asteroid and seeped into the region's soil, thus becoming a part of the area's ecosystem. Five tribes formed in the area and vied for power until one person ate the heart-shaped herb – likely infused with the power of vibranium itself – and, as the story goes, the panther goddess Bast bestowed superpowers upon him.

That person was the first king of Wakanda and the first Black Panther. Since this all occurred thousands of years ago, it also means that this person was possibly the very first superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

That legacy and mantle of the Black Panther have been passed down to new kings of Wakanda from generation to generation. King T'Chaka was the Black Panther at least into the 1990s before giving the mantle over to his son, T'Challa.

That Black Panther was able to operate covertly on American soil in the 1990s means that he could possibly show up in Captain Marvel without messing up continuity. Audiences would just have to be able to believe that whoever he comes into contact with can keep a secret. Considering the biggest characters in Captain Marvel are Carol Danvers and Nick Fury, that's not too hard to imagine.

The Black Panther has a similar history in the Marvel Comics universe, though there were other powered beings that fought alongside him. In the Marvel Legacy one-shot that was released in 2017, the "Avengers of 10,000 BC" was revealed to include the first Black Panther, Odin, Ghost Rider, Phoenix, Starbrand, Iron Fist, and Agamotto, the Sorcerer Supreme.

Black Panther currently has an 85.92 ComicBook.com Composite Score, which is the fourth-highest ComicBook.com Composite Score for a comic book movie. Black Panther also has a 4.53 out of 5 ComicBook.com User Rating, making it the highest rated comic book movie ever among ComicBook.com Users.

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Black Panther is now in theaters. It will be followed by Avengers: Infinity War on May 4th, Ant-Man and the Wasp on July 6th, Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019, the fourth Avengers movie on May 3, 2019, the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming on July 5, 2019, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in 2020.