7 Ways the Events of ‘Black Panther’ Change the MCU’

Black Panther roared into theaters on Friday and the movie is already leaving quite a mark. The Ryan Coogler-directed movie is outperforming box office expectations and is tracking to bring in more than $210 million during its opening weekend — a feat that would give it the best opening weekend in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

But it’s not just in box office terms that Black Panther is changing the MCU. Despite being mostly self-contained in comparison to other MCU films, events in the movie are going to have far-reaching impact on the world of the MCU both in what it sets up as we head towards Avengers: Infinity War and for what is coming when Marvel Studios closes out Phase Three and heads into the uncharted territory of Phase Four. There’s a lot to unpack here so let’s explore seven of the ways Black Panther will change the MCU.

Warning: Major spoilers for Black Panther, including mid- and post-credits scenes, beyond this point!

Vibranium Gold Rush

One of the issues that T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) faces in Black Panther is how to deal with Wakanda’s isolationist stance. The fictional African nation has remained hidden from the world for generations as a way of preserving itself and its massive stores of vibranium. When Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) arrives, overthrows T’Challa, and intends to distribute vibranium weapons to Wakandan agents around the world to start a revolution, it become clear to T’Challa that Wakanda can hide no longer. In the film’s mid-credits scene, T’Challa declared that Wakanda was opening to the world — a declaration that includes the revelation of just how much vibranium they have. With Wakanda exploding on the world stage and vibranium being so sought after and valuable, there’s going to be a vibrainum gold rush in the MCU. Everyone is going to want to get their hands on the metal — and that everybody includes good guys and bad guys as well. And when the bad guys do get their hands on significant amounts of vibranium they are no doubt going to be more difficult to fight.

Wakandan Sanctuary State

Audiences already got a little taste of the idea of Wakanda as a sanctuary state at the end of Captain America: Civil War when T’Challa grants Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) asylum in Wakanda and puts him into cryogenic sleep until they are able to reverse HYDRA’s brainwashing and restore him to his true self. But T’Challa aims to go much further when it comes to Wakanda and the outside world. Early in the film Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) tells T’Challa that Wakanda has much to offer the rest of the world, particularly as a place of refuge for the oppressed. While T’Challa initially opposes the idea, when he reveals Wakanda’s true face to the world, it’s not just vibranium he’s offering. In addition to the outreach programs, Wakanda will be open to the oppressed of the world. If the X-Men come into the MCU, Wakanda could very well end up a safe haven for mutants, not unlike Genosha — a fictional nation in comics that serves as a mutant homeland of sorts — and create an interesting and plausible way to bring the characters into the MCU.

The Return of Bucky Barnes

In the post-credits scene something amazing happens. It’s revealed that Shuri (Letitia Wright) has been able to “delete” the Winter Soldier and restore Bucky Barnes. With the HYDRA brainwashing gone Bucky will be free to not just take up the fight against Thanos in the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War, but it also could set him up to take on another role in the MCU: White Wolf. While White Wolf is not a title Bucky has ever held in Marvel Comics, given that Bucky still may have challenges fitting into the rest of the world he could find a home in Wakanda, potentially as an ally of T’Challa and could even end up in the position White Wolf has in comics. The real White Wolf ends up an enemy to T’Challa as an outsider who grows up in Wakanda but never fits in and feels cheated as a result. He’s given leadership over the Wakandan Hatut Zeraze — Wakanda’s police force –but goes on to be dismissed and become a mercenary. While we don’t see that fate for Bucky, the idea of him finding his place in Wakanda is a real possibility.

Tech Upgrades

Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) created some incredible technology in the MCU, but he’s still playing with wooden blocks compared to Shuri’s advances. From the technology used in the Wakandan mines to T’Challa’s amazing upgraded suit to the incredible medical advances that literally takes Everett K. Ross (Martin Freeman) from being moments from death and/or probably paralysis to being completely healed in the matter of a day. With that kind of ingenuity and skill, Shuri is not only going to be able to up the game for the heroes, but she’s going to revolutionize the world with upgraded technology. Audiences get a hint of that in the final moments of the film when T’Challa takes Shuri to Oakland and reveals to her that he is opening an outreach center where she will oversee the spread of better, upgraded technology and information.  The world of the MCU going forward may very well be a world far more advanced than what it is now — for better or for worse.

War Dogs

One of the big reveals in Black Panther is the existence of the War Dogs. Known as the Hatut Zeraze, it’s revealed that Wakanda has operatives all over the world, serving as eyes and ears for Wakanda, protecting its security and secrecy. We also found out when Killmonger prepared to distribute Wakandan weapons to the War Dogs while many weren’t quite on board with his plans for revolution, many were eager to fight. Now that Wakanda is opening to the world, it’s possible that some of those War Dogs who have been embedded in the outside world could go rogue, possibly creating as many problems as T’Challa hopes to solve by taking a stand on the world stage.

One Less Arms Dealer

Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis) was an important figure in the MCU. An acquaintance of Tony Stark’s prior to the events of Iron Man, Klaue is revealed in Avengers: Age of Ultron to have stolen a lot of vibranium from Wakanda and is one of the people who is critical to Ultron’s evil plans. Klaue is forced to give Ultron the vibranium and is rewarded for it with billions of dollars in his bank account. Klaue also enrages Ultron — never a good idea — by comparing him too much to Stark which resulted in Klaue losing an arm.

But Klaue’s almost legendary run ends in Black Panther. He may have replaced his arm with a piece of Wakandan technology and is continuing his career as a thief and arms dealer, but things start to unravel for Klaue. It’s revealed that N’Jobu (Sterling K. Brown,) brother of King T’Chaka and a War Dog himself, helped him steal the vibranium and, later, Killmonger plays Klaue as part of his plan to overthrow T’Challa. He gets Klaue’s help to steal a Wakandan artifact, a partnership that ends with Killmonger murdering Klaue and using that murder as his ticket into Wakanda.

Sadly, we never got to hear Klaue’s album that he joked about with Ross.

The Soul Stone is still Missing

Perhaps the biggest way Black Panther impacts the MCU is actually something that doesn’t happen in the movie at all With Avengers: Infinity War just around the corner and Thor: Ragnarok in our rearview, many thought that the location of the Soul Stone would be revealed in Black Panther. That ended up not being the case. Not only is the Soul Stone not in Wakanda, it’s not mentioned in Black Panther at all. We still have no idea where the missing Infinity Stone is hiding.

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.

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