Black Panther 2 Gave Shuri One of the MCU's Best Character Arcs

By Jenna Anderson

It has been nearly two months since Black Panther: Wakanda Forever arrived in theaters, bringing an emotional and poignant culmination to Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The project was filled with absolutely no shortage of surprises, from the inspired recontextualizing of Namor (Tenoch Huerta) and his history, to how the film handled the real-life passing of franchise star Chadwick Boseman. In and amongst all of that was an unexpected, but welcomed, addition to Black Panther: Wakanda Forever — the journey of Princess Shuri(Letitia Wright), who channeled her grief over the loss of her brother T'Challa (Boseman) — and, eventually, her mother Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett) — into becoming the new Black Panther.

While the list of things to celebrate in Wakanda Forever is sure to only grow (especially once award season rolls around), the steps it takes in Shuri's overall journey are definitely among them. Not only does Shuri's Wakanda Forever arc meaningfully advance her growth as a character (a growth that also happens to weave in elements of her original comic-accurate characterization), but it provides what might be one of the most intriguing evolutions of a character that the MCU has seen yet.

Shuri's Past

The first Black Panther film, as well as her subsequent appearance in Avengers: Infinity War, leaned wholeheartedly into the idea of Shuri being a tech-savvy, outspoken kid sister, with her role largely consisting of making gadgets for T'Challa and offering pop culture-inspired moments of comedic relief. While the heart of her character remained captivating and inspiring for fans, her characterization was decidedly different from how it first was in the comics, where she was introduced as T'Challa's half sister who was determined to eventually take on the Black Panther mantle, but whose tenacity and jealousy initially stood in the way. Shuri's arc to become the Black Panther, particularly in the Black Panther comics of 2009 and 2010, had spotlighted a flawed, but fascinating take on what the mantle could represent — something that, in the grand scheme of things, seemed too drastic to put onto the MCU's Shuri in the immediate future. 

Enter the events of Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Wakanda Forever, in which Shuri was among the half of all life that was blipped out of existence, was missing for five years, and then experienced the death of her brother and mother within the span of a year. That string of traumatic events would change anybody, and it was safe to assume that it would fundamentally impact Shuri. What Wakanda Forever ultimately landed upon was a story of grief and personal growth for Shuri that felt both personal and incredibly universal. While the compassion, thirst for knowledge, and sense of style from Shuri's previous MCU appearances remained, Wakanda Forever gave her space to showcase previously-unseen sides of her.

Shuri's Future

Across Wakanda Forever, and especially as she became the Black Panther, Shuri was allowed to make mistakes, feel heartbroken, and consider vengeance — a lot like the early days of her comic counterpart, but in ways that didn't feel implausible for her MCU past. It became downright thrilling to watch Shuri wrestle with her complicated feelings about responsibility, ultimately making the events of her final conflict with Namor exhilarating to watch. Her arc provided the kind of raw, genuine emotional catharsis that wouldn't have necessarily be expected when Shuri first debuted onscreen in 2018.

Seeing the MCU get to the point of being able to tell such a profound story of grief and growth (like it has with so many of its characters in Phase 4) is still surreal in and of itself. But with Shuri, it feels uniquely special, as it's the kind of story that could only have been effectively told within the long-form, ever-spiraling medium of the MCU itself. Countless costumed characters have evolved on the page in the near-century since superhero comics first began, with the never-ending nature of the medium allowing certain storylines or events to make a major impact. But it's still rare to witness a live-action Marvel character evolve so significantly in real-time, over the span of several years — to watch them keep their heart and spirit, but still be fundamentally changed by the earth-shattering events that they've gone through and the growing up that they've had to do in such a short span of time. While there's no telling when we'll next get that kind of satisfying character arc told in the MCU, it feels worth celebrating that it was able to happen with Shuri.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is now playing in theaters.

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