The official Black Panther 2, aka Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, trailer is here and it's got us frothing with speculation about who the new Black Panther is. Because while the last trailer showed us a crouching Black Panther, with claws extended, this new clip lets us see a new Black Panther from the front.
This clip for the upcoming Marvel movie, released today (Oct. 3) as tickets went on sale for the Nov. 11 film, starts off with Wakanda in mourning. Then, as we see footage of an attack on an ocean liner, M'Baku (Winston Duke) is seen talking about Namor the Submariner (Tenoch Huerta, whose character's name hasn't actually been explicitly stated yet), saying that his people call him by the name of the feather serpent god K'uk'ulkan.
And it seems that M'Baku is against going to war with Namor, as "killing him will risk eternal war." Shuri (Letitia Wright) then replies, suggesting that it's the necessary thing, as this new enemy is "coming for the surface world."
But since we all know the big story of Black Panther 2 is about the line of succession for Wakanda's greatest warrior, the trailer jumps to Ramonda (Angela Bassett) speaking about how Wakanda has lost its protector. Then, in rapid fire, we see Namor attacking Wakanda, Ironheart Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) hard at work and in the skies and then a new Black Panther jumps down from a high-up area, and stands. This is what they look like:
Analysis: It's Shuri, right?
So, looking at that Black Panther armor, we get the sense that the new Black Panther is probably Shuri. Just like that "from behind" shot in the teaser trailer, the body type fits her much more than Lupita Nyong'o's Nakia or even Danai Gurira's Okoye.
The trailer doesn't give you a whole lot of reason to believe it's anyone in particular, except for Shuri's dialogue. Her seeming insistence that Wakanda should not let Namor's attacks go unstopped suggests she's taking a leadership role in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The white markings on the top of the new Black Panther's mask further hint that it's Shuri, as she has those markings on her face earlier in the trailer.
Shuri has been our best guess for the new Black Panther for a while, though it was once speculated that Wright wouldn't be in the movie. A story in The Hollywood Reporter confirmed Letitia Wright's part in the movie after rampant rumors suggested her role was in jeopardy due to a reported reluctance to get the Covid-19 vaccine.
Next: Check out our Andor episode 5 preview.
