Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the 30th Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, just had the biggest November box office opening in history with $180 million in the U.S. and Canada, and $150 million overseas, for a total of $330 million globally. To borrow a turn of phrase, the reports of an MCU backlash may have been greatly exaggerated.
When Chadwick Boseman died of cancer in 2020, he left a hole that would have been impossible to fill. And Marvel and director Ryan Coogler, perhaps wisely, decided not to try. They announced soon afterward that they would not recast T’Challa, and Coogler rewrote the screenplay to deal with the character’s death. The resulting film, Wakanda Forever, is a visual elegy—an action film that intersperses its fight scenes with meditations on grieving and the responsibilities we bear for the people we love.
While the film’s themes felt heavier and more emotional than what we’re used to from superhero films, it wouldn’t be a Marvel movie without various connecting threads that tie it to the previous film and the overall MCU. Here are the 24 best Easter eggs and references that we noticed in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, plus a breakdown of the credits scenes. Caution: Spoilers lie ahead!