Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Marvel Studios’ tribute to Chadwick Boseman following the tragic death of the actor, was widely anticipated by fans. Shuri, played by Letitia Wright, appears to be the next in line to assume the mantle of Black Panther in the sequel. The Wakanda Forever production has been put on hold due to an on-set injury sustained during a stunt in August, which has prevented Wright from participating in any recent filming.

Dominique Thorne’s Riri Williams, who appears in the upcoming Black Panther sequel, will be one of the MCU’s newest additions. This time around, former What If…? voice actress Lake Bell is rumored to be getting a live-action MCU role. Rumors about how Marvel plans to continue T’Challa’s role in the MCU have surfaced in the past few months.

T’Challa’s Son Will Appear In Black Panther 2

The Cosmic Circus reports that T’Challa and Nakia’s son will be introduced in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Rumor has it that Shuri will be taking on the Black Panther mantle instead of T’Challa’s son due to the character’s age and thus making room for the MCU sequel.

However, The Cosmic Circus has speculated that T’Challa’s son’s role will be recast later down the line like Cassie Lang was for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

Chadwick Boseman is being honored.

With Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, director Ryan Coogler, and all of the other people working on the film, it’s a tricky and delicate task. A recasting of T’Challa would have undermined everything that Boseman had accomplished in the role, so Marvel Studios was adamant that he would not be replaced.

Introducing a son for T’Challa seems like a fitting way to honor everything that has come before without completely undoing the impact of Boseman. In the words of The Cosmic Circus, the Disney+ series focusing on T’Challa and Nakia’s son appears to be the best place in the MCU to nurture him into a great man.

This could lead to the child taking over the Black Panther role in the franchise’s third installment or moving to a different MCU area like a Young Avengers project. It doesn’t matter what Marvel does with T’Challa in the MCU, and it will be because of Chadwick Boseman’s impact on the character.