Who Is the New Black Panther? 'Wakanda Forever' Reveals T'Challa's Successor

In Black Panther: Wakanda Forever King T'Challa has died, and his loss leaves the nation of Wakanda without their protector.

The title of the Black Panther is a heavy burden to bear, and no one is ready to succeed T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman) since it will confirm that he is truly gone.

But when a new threat emerges in the form of Namor (Tenoch Huerta), it becomes clear that a new hero must rise.

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Who Is the New Black Panther? 'Wakanda Forever' Reveals T'Challa's Successor

The title of Black Panther is one that is passed down the royal line of succession, with a contender using the Heart-Shaped Herb plant to visit their ancestors and be gifted the powers of the Black Panther.

It should come as no surprise, then, that the character that does become T'Challa's successor is his sister, Shuri (Letitia Wright).

Shuri does not take on the responsibility lightly, though, and it is not something she does instantly. It takes time for the technology expert to come to terms with her brother's loss, and for most of the film she believes Wakanda cannot have another Black Panther because it was always meant to be T'Challa's title.

In the end it is another loss at the hands of Namor that forces Shuri's hand, and in that moment, she realizes that in order to stop the villain she will have to become the protector of Wakanda like her brother before her.

An interesting twist on the narrative happens during the process of the ritual that would give her the powers of the Black Panther. Believing she will see her closest family members in the ancestral realm, Shuri is shocked to learn that the relative who visits her is not her immediate family but her cousin, Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan).

Killmonger forcefully took the throne from T'Challa in the first Black Panther, and after fighting each other, the character was ultimately defeated and killed. He visits Shuri in the ancestral realm because she is like him, he claims, driven by a desire for vengeance.

Shuri is shocked and angered by this, and by the fact that her close relatives did not see her in the ancestral realm. Ultimately, the ritual works and she is gifted with the powers of the Black Panther, though like Killmonger told her, she is not driven by nobility like her brother, she is out for revenge like him.

Her attitude over how to defeat her enemies is a lot more bloodthirsty than T'Challa ever would have been, and it is only when faced with the possibility of ending a life that she turns back from the path that Killmonger had previously taken, and instead forges her own path as a Black Panther.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is out in theaters now.