The ending of Black Panther 2 raised many questions and pointed to various possible futures for many of its main characters. While some things were pretty clear-cut, others were a little more vague and ambiguous. Obviously we suggest you stop reading at this point if you want to remain spoiler free regarding the ending of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
In the final act of Black Panther 2, Shuri (Letitia Wright) finally manages to engineer the heart-shaped herb in her lab and accepts the mantle of becoming the next Black Panther. And with both T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) and Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett) now gone, Shuri should now also be Queen of Wakanda.
However, when the ceremony begins that would see her crowned Queen, M’Baku (Winston Duke) of the Jabari Tribe arrives to challenge her, as he did with T’Challa. But Shuri does not attend the ceremony, suggesting that she is happy for M’Baku to go unchallenged and to claim the throne for himself. Shuri has a lot on her plate, grieving both her brother and mother, finding out she’s an auntie, and taking on the mantle of the Black Panther. It’s understandable that she doesn’t want to rule in addition to all that.
Shuri’s passion is also science and technology, something she will surely like to continue working on, perhaps in collaboration with new character Riri (Dominique Thorne). Shuri is always going to be more comfortable in the lab than in the throne room, arguing about politics with the other tribal leaders.
In an interview with Esquire, Duke says that he hopes there will be a Black Panther 3 and that; “it’s kind of cool though, being revealed as King of Wakanda at the end of the movie. That’s huge. So whatever that entails, that’s gonna be a fun one.” Just in case there were still any doubts as to who the new ruler of Wakanda is.
We don’t know if there will be a Black Panther 3, it’s not currently on the slate for Marvel’s Phase 5 or 6.