History Fridge / BlackPantherWakandaForever

* This film is the second sequel after ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'' to showcase a devastating attack on a long-impenetrable citadel and the fallout. The only difference is that while that film showed how vengeance was consuming Odin of Asgard and Thor had to take matters into his own hands to avoid further bloodshed, this film has Shuri go down the same path but ultimately forsake it.

* This film is the second sequel after ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'' to showcase a devastating attack on a long-impenetrable citadel and the fallout. The only difference is that while that film showed how vengeance was consuming Odin of Asgard, this film has Shuri go down the same path but ultimately forsake it.

!!Fridge Brilliance

!!Fridge Horror

* Some fans asked why Tiamut's frozen statue in ''Film/{{Eternals}}'' wasn't addressed as Namor could have easily been angered by there being a colossal statue of a space god in what is his domain. The answer is due to the fact that Talokan is located in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. Whereas the final battle of ''{{Film/Eternals}}'' takes place in the Pacific.

* Ramonda's deep-rooted hatred towards the Elders for their faith in Killmonger cuts ''especially'' deep when you remember that two of them caused Killmonger to even get into the position to almost kill T'Challa and burn the herbs that would have saved his life again in the first place. [[note]]The River Tribe Elder who demanded Killmonger to reveal who he is, thus enabling M'Kathu, the Border Tribe Elder, to RulesLawyer the fight to happen[[/note]]

** Also consider that Wakanda has always a.) considered threats to their security to be the other nations of Earth who only have technologically inferior, conventional land and air-based militaries and b.) been a landlocked country, likely never considering an amphibious assault by river to be a viable means of enemy invasion, let alone from an attacking force with superhuman soldiers armed with vibranium.

* Once again, the Ancestral Plane tailors itself to whomever enters. T'Challa saw the peaceful plains, showing he was at peace with his role, while Killmonger saw his childhood apartment where he found his father's body, an event he never moved from. It makes perfect sense that Shuri would enter the throne room... where her mother died -- again, a moment she needs to move past, and finally does in the end when Ramonda briefly appears in the plains.

* This film is the second sequel after ''Thor: The Dark World'' to showcase a devastating attack on a long-impenetrable citadel and the fallout. The only difference is that while that film showed how vengeance was consuming Odin of Asgard, this film has Shuri go down the same path but ultimately forsake it.
* Namor's wings are too small to lift his body up. If this was a genetic mutation, this would be accurate. But this mutation was brought on by a mystical plant from a water god. This gives weight to Namor's claims of godhood.
* K'uk'ulkan in Mesoamerican myth, is the god of flight, rulership, and language. All traits Namor displays in the film. Namor also uses a conch shell as a symbol, which may allude to how the conch was one of the symbols of Quetzalcoatl/K'uk'ulkan, being [[https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/the-wine-gods-breastplate/ used in real life]] as an insignia on the breastplates of priests.

* The lengths Namor would go to prevent his kingdom's existence from being revealed to the outside world may feel too extreme considering Talokan's technological advantage, strategic location, and its leader's superhuman abilities would be more than enough to protect itself from ordinary would-be invaders or even Wakanda itself. However, this is a world where people like the Avengers, organizations like HYDRA, gods, monsters, aliens, various other supernatural threats exist, and as isolated as it may be, even the Talokanis would still be affected by Thanos's depopulation snap. Threats that even Namor could not be able to protect his kingdom from. Knowing this, it's no wonder why Namor would go to great lengths form preventing anybody on the surface from discovering his kingdom: even he cannot protect his kingdom from ''everything'' out there.
* Shuri managing to pull herself down the spear actually makes a lot of sense - Shuri built both T'challa's and Killmonger's Panther Habits, as well as her own - it would make sense that said Habit would include at the very least minor first aid, at least until either external treatment or the healing factor is able to patch them up. Case in point, Killmonger died from a stab to the heart, and only died ''after'' he removed the spear in his chest - modern medical treatment is very capable of saving someone who has suffered from a heart wound, given that the damaging object is left in the body until treatment. Shuri's Habit is likely more advanced than both T'challa's and Killmonger's, meaning that there's probably better medical technology in hers.

* The inexplicable fact that there's another source of vibranium outside Wakanda is hand-waved by Shuri as just "meteors striking in different places". Except, the Talokans, who live off the Yucatan Peninsula, don't just live by some meteor crater made up for the movie's lore; they live in the crater of '''''the''''' [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicxulub_crater meteor strike]]. Makes perfect sense that the vibranium from the ''asteroid that killed the dinosaurs'' would give them even more unique powers than the heart-shaped herb and allow them to create a thriving underwater civilization.
* Once again the Ancestral Plane tailors itself to whomever enters. T'Challa saw the peaceful plains- showing he was at peace with his role, Killmonger the apartment where he found his father's body- an event he never moved past so it makes perfect sense that Shuri would enter the throne room...where her mother died again a moment she needs to move past, and finally does in the end.
* M'Baku chewing on a carrot homages Bugs Bunny. There's no way that M'Baku would not know about Bugs Bunny existing, just because the Jabari live in the mountains. If he knows about Mayan Mythology, who to say he doesn't know about cartoon characters?
** The sort of humor he uses, often relying on playing with people's expectations and/or social rules, is also similiar to Bugs.

* Why were the mercenaries French and not American, the latter being a traditional player for such actions in political thrillers? France in the real world has a lot of political influence in Sub-Saharan Africa, often acting as the power that leads anti-terrorism task forces or leaning on political realities. This includes the nation of Mali, where the Wakandan outreach center was located. While America does act in Africa, it isn't its immediate priority in the way it is for France. While both America and France would be equally thrown for a loop by a sudden new superpower to emerge in the world, for France Wakanda is a much more direct competitor in its sphere of influence.

* Why is N’Jadaka/Killmonger Shuri’s guide in the Ancestral Realm[[note]]Besides the obvious answer of "Letting Michael B. Jordan retain his [[ProductionPosse Perfect-Attendance-In-Ryan-Coogler-Movies Award]]"[[/note]]? He may be family, but he also tried to kill her brother and herself, and plunge her country into a war on the rest of the world. The reason for this is simple: Shuri is at a crossroads of her life, and desires vengeance against the man who killed her parent, leaving her to uphold a legacy she is not ready for, and a desire to do whatever it takes to sate her anger, even burning down the whole world. Just like Killmonger was. Killmonger is a dark mirror to Shuri, and a perfect example of what she may become if she loses herself to her pain. What better guide could there be?

* Killmonger trying to force Shuri to kill Namor out of revenge may be more than just forcing Shuri to embrace her feelings of rage towards Namor. He shows respect for both Shuri and Ramonda for helping save Riri Williams, an intelligent African-American Woman who had accidentally made a Vibranium detector that got repurposed by the government stating that T'Chaka would have seen her killed, something Namor is actively doing. Namor is basically everything Killmonger hates about T'Chaka, Namor keeps his kingdom a secret when he could be using it to help society as a whole, possibly citing the various Latin American communities that could use it much like how he killed colonizers that had enslaved his mother's village, and the fact that he's attempting to assasinate a young, smart, black woman who managed to work her way up to MIT.

* Talokan being an adaptation of the comics' version of Atlantis serves as a parallel to how Klaue claimed that the story of El Dorado came from garbled accounts about Wakanda, with both nations standing in for mythical lost cities. This also allows for the movies to obliquely comment on the racial subtext surrounding these myths: the fact that the legend of El Dorado was part of how colonial nations such as Spain incentivized the conquest of South America is contrasted with Wakanda's status as a country which was never colonized, while [[https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-mesoamerican-influences-behind-namor-from-black-panther-wakanda-forever-180981106/ this article]] points out that the myth of Atlantis was historically used to attribute the creations of "primitive" non-white nations to a superior ancient civilization; the portrayal of Talokan as an independently advanced and pre-colonial civilization allows for a rebuttal of this idea.
* Shuri’s Panther Habit has an interesting color choice. In addition to the traditional black, she also has various pieces of silver (clearly meant to invoke T’Challa), and gold (which bring to mind the Habit of N’Jadaka/Killmonger). This specific choice helps mirror the struggle that Shuri herself is going through: does she follow the noble example of T’Challa, and become the protector of her people? Or does she lose herself to vengeance like N’Jadaka did, and become an agent of wrath against those who took her family from her?

** Add to this the whichever Tribe is in the position of the Royal Family are nicknamed "The Golden Tribe". T'Chaka wore a little bit of Gold in the flashback of the first film. Shuri making a Golden Panther Habit is likely her way of implimenting that and also the fact now that superheroes are public figure. She probably wanted something to show that the Black Panther is of royalty.

* Why were the defences of Wakanda, the so-called greatest power on the planet so easily breached with so little in the way of an immediate response? Ditto the minimal forces scraped together for the final stand in the ocean? Simple; with first the civil war between T'Challa and Killmonger and then fighting a full-scale invasion against Thanos, their standing forces have been very badly depleted, leaving Wakanda vulnerable. Even more so with the Black Panther (initially) lost to them.

** Also consider that Wakanda has always a.) considered threats to their security to be the other nations of Earth who only have technologically inferior, conventional land and air-based militaries and b.) being a landlocked country, likely never considered an amphibious assault by river to be a viable means of enemy invasion, let alone from an attacking force with superhuman soldiers armed with vibranium.
* M'Baku being wary of starting a ForeverWar with Namor and the rest of Talokan makes a lot of sense if one takes his experiences from ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' into account. At the end of that film, M'Baku had to watch several of his fellow soldiers and the man he once considered a brother fade into dust, and live the next five years in miserable isolation while Wakanda tries to keep itself afloat. Suffering so much loss after such a brutal battle likely will have worn down M'Baku's BloodKnight personality, since he now knows the consequences of losing.
* Whilst many fans wondered if M'Baku, Nakia or Okoye would be the next Black Panther. It makes sense that none of them take up the mantle. M'Baku and Nakia are from the Jabari and River Tribe respectively; therefore, they worship Ghekre/Hanuman (the Jabari Gorilla Deity) and Sobek (The River Crocodile Deity). If they ascended to being Wakandas Royal Champion, their titles would reflect their respective Deities colour and animal motif (Silver Gorilla and Green Crocodile).
** In Okoye's case. If the Champion must be a Royal. Okoye may not count if she is not part of any of the tribes leading families. Due to her status as Dora Milage, its not clear what tribe/ethnicity she is. She may not be from the Golden Tribe/Black Panther tribe and in fact be from another tribe. Though her marriage to W'Kabi could make her eligible to represent the Border Tribes Royal Family as a possible champion. But then her Title would not be modelled on Bast the Black Panther goddess if that was the case. Her title would likely reflect the Border Tribes Colour and Animal motif of their Deity.
* Why is Shuri able to take being impaled straight through the stomach by Namor in the climactic fight as well as she did and seem generally fine in scenes taking place shortly after the battle? Most likely once discovering how Killmonger died against T'Challa she designed all future suits so that in case of getting stabbed the wearer would not bleed out having it function closer to Tony's suit when Thanos stabbed him in "Infinity War".
* Of course Ramonda has initial reservations regarding A.I. as Ultron almost ended the world and did it with stolen Wakandan Vibrainium. Also of course Shuri doesn't take these reservations seriously as Ultron was a special case that fell into AIIsACrapshoot due to being exposed to an Infinity Stone whereas her A.I isn't.
* Some fans asked why Tiamut's frozen statue in ''{{Film/Eternals}}'' wasn't addressed as Namor could have easily been angered by their being a colossal statue of a space god in what is his domain. The answer is due to the fact that Namor and Talokan is in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. Whereas the final battle of ''{{Film/Eternals}}'' takes place in the Pacific.

* [[HollywoodAtheist Shuri being openly dismissive of Wakanda's worship of Bast]] may actually have some credence, [[RightForTheWrongReasons even if it isn't for the reasons she believes in]]. Because, as ''Film/ThorLoveAndThunder'' previously showed, Bast is currently busy engaging in hedonistic behavior at Omnipotence City, and there's no indication that she's returned to the Ancestral Plane since then. In other words, Bast might still be ignoring Wakandan prayers and new souls that come to the Ancestral Plane simply because she's ''[[TheGodsMustBeLazy too lazy to help her people]]''.

** And Talokan's beginning was a Mayan tribe fleeing from the destruction the Spanish conquistadors brought. It isn't hard to make the connection that the Mayan pantheon was up there pleasuring themselves on Omnipotence City while their people were suffering. Sure, Chaac wasn't as bad as the others, seeing as how he led the priest to what allowed the people to escape underwater, but that still doesn't change the fact that the horrors of colonization were allowed to happen by lazy, hedonistic gods.

** There might be some FridgeBrilliance here. Bast's current incarnations is a ''domestic'' goddess and so wouldn't really help too much as far as war and fighting goes, so, perhaps, with the conflict, her governance is limited?
* In the middle of the movie, we learn that Nakia left Wakanda after Thanos' attack, which was six years ago, and it's been one year since T'Challa's death. A quick calculation shows that he must have passed at most a few months after the battle for Earth.
** This also raises the possibility that the physical strain of fighting in the Battle of Wakanda and Battle of Earth consecutively (since T'Challa was Snapped and would have had perhaps only a few minutes to recover from the former before leading Wakanda's armies in the latter) weakened his body and accelerated the character's illness and demise.
** Adding to this, T'Chaka completely gave up the powers in old age (as evidence when the explosion in Civil war killed him but not T'Challa). Its possible that, despite the superhuman physique and healing factor, the enhanced body of the Black Panther possibly requires extreme maintanance (I.E higher caloric intake for example) and therefore can possibly burn out their body quicker (weaken the immune system) hence T'Chaka having powers in old age could be morenof hinderance than advantage. T'Challa between Infinity War and Endgame technically had no rest between the two fights. Possibly allowing his body to be burned out and suseptible to whatever illness that slowly killed him.

** Or they manually opened the suit, they clearly knew how it functioned and just murdered the helpless sea-divers inside.

** It is also a good explanation for why she was initially frightened of taking the herb, since [[SomeoneToRememberHimBy it might risk harming the last memory of her husband,]] and why [[DueToTheDead she wanted to be buried on land]] [[TogetherInDeath so badly.]]
* Ramonda's deeprooted hatred towards the Elders for their faith in Killmonger cuts ''especially'' deep when you remember that two of them caused Killmonger to even get into the position to almost kill T'Challa and burn the herbs that would have saved his life again in the first place. [[note]]The River Tribe Elder who demanded Killmonger to reveal who he is, thus enabling M'Kathu, the Border Tribe Elder, to RulesLawyer the fight to happen[[/note]]

** It is also a good explanation for why she was initially frightened of taking the herb, since [[SomeoneToRememberHimBy it might risk harming the last memory of her husband,]] and why [[DueToTheDead she wanted to be buried on land so badly.]]