Avengers: Infinity War ended as tragically as it possibly could. As Thanos wipes out half of the universe with a snap of his fingers, many of our favorite heroes are reduced to dust before our very eyes – Black Panther, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Star-Lord, etc. And while we expect most of them to return in time for next May’s Avengers 4, if for some reason they don’t, it may allow for a pretty exciting future for one character in particular.
Namely, Letitia Wright’s Shuri, T’Challa’s genius little sister who’s become a firm fan favorite. The princess of Wakanda really caught fire with viewers in Black Panther and though she didn’t have a huge presence in Infinity War, the ending does suggest a cool new direction for her if T’Challa doesn’t return, as it could fall to Shuri to become the new monarch of Wakanda and, by extension, the new Black Panther.
Of course, there’s precedent for this in the source material, too, so it’s not that crazy to think it could happen. Not only that, but Wright seems to be on board with the idea as well. Speaking with Screen Geek over the weekend, the actress said the following:
“If the opportunity came about, then why not? It would be comic book accurate. Yeah, that would be amazing. It means more training, more learning and it would really be an amazing adventure. Shuri becomes a savage in the comic books. From going to comedic and fun and like a kid – to then just pulling out some claws. I’m excited.”
So, Wright’s all for it, then, but can we actually expect for this to happen? Well, maybe, but there is one potential problem here. And that’s that Avengers 4, along with its predecessor, was made before Black Panther came out and therefore, before it became the worldwide phenomenon that it is now.
As such, Marvel might not have predicted that Shuri would become as popular as she currently is. Still, maybe the filmmakers saw the potential in the character and were smart enough to give her an interesting arc?
Let’s hope they did and that we see Shuri become the Black Panther in Avengers 4, which will be with us next May.
