T’Challa/the Black Panther is one of Marvel Comics’ most important heroes. This is true within the Marvel universe and in the real world. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, T’Challa was the first Black superhero introduced in mainstream comics. This was years before Sam Wilson, Storm, or Green Lantern John Stewart over at DC. Others have assumed the title of Black Panther since, but eventually the mantle always falls back on T’Challa. It’s hard to oversell how important a character he is. But the untimely passing of Chadwick Boseman in 2020 left Marvel Studios in a dilemma when it came to what to do with T’Challa as a character. But there is a way for T’Challa’s young son, T’Challa II, introduced in Wakanda Forever, to become the new Black Panther already. And the answer to how is found in the world of Shang-Chi.
Chadwick Boseman’s death in 2020 was an enormous blow, one that still hurts nearly five years later. And out of respect for the first actor to play T’Challa in live-action, Marvel decided not to recast the character. Fans can debate if this was a right or wrong decision ’til the cows come home. But whether you like that decision or not, it seems #RecastTChalla is a ship that has sailed. As Black Panther: Wakanda Forever showed us, T’Challa died of an unnamed illness in the MCU, later replaced by his sister Shuri as Black Panther. However, the film ended with the reveal that T’Challa and Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) have a son — six-year-old T’Challa II, who uses the legal name of Toussaint. His mother is currently raising him in secret in Haiti… at least until the day he comes of age and can take the throne of Wakanda, that is.
Obviously, introducing T’Challa II is Marvel’s way of having their cake and eating it too. The existence of T’Challa II means they don’t ever have to recast Chadwick Boseman’s role. This way, they can eventually have a new Black Panther also named T’Challa in the MCU, one who just happens to be his son and namesake. (It also means they don’t have to give us another Multiversal doppelgänger.) But the Toussaint we met in Wakanda Forever is a small child. We can guarantee you that Marvel is not going to wait ten or twenty years to make him Black Panther. And because of how interwoven the MCU timeline is with multiple heroes, they’re also not going to flash forward to the future. But the solution to making T’Challa II the Black Panther now has been right there since the release of Shang-Chi.
In Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, we’re introduced to the other-dimensional realm of Ta Lo. Ta Lo is not a branched timeline of Earth-616, but exists within the Sacred Timeline as a pocket dimension. And as another dimension, time moves differently there. Right now, very few people are even aware of the existence of Ta Lo. But Shang-Chi and his friend Katy are among them. They told Wong, Captain Marvel, and Bruce Banner about it, meaning the Wakandans certainly know about it now, too. (For all we know, they could’ve known this already.) We could see the Wakandans sending T’Challa II there to train and also for protection.
Should his existence become known, the enemies of Wakanda might seek to harm Toussaint. But it is highly unlikely any enemies of Wakanda would ever think to look for him in a place that is a myth to most. It’s also a place that one can only access once a year, and with difficulty. Since time moves differently in Ta Lo, it means the young royal might go in as a 7-year-old child, but emerge as a young adult, ready to become the Black Panther. This way, other MCU projects won’t have to all thrust into the future at once. The rest of the franchise won’t have to change their timelines to accommodate an older version of T’Challa II this way.
This twist would also allow for the MCU to bring to life an aspect of the comic book T’Challa that the MCU decided to skip over. In the comics, T’Challa went around the world in his formative years to learn as much as he could from the outside world, before taking the throne of Wakanda. The MCU version did just fine without that aspect of his character, but they could pay homage to it with T’Challa II training abroad in Ta Lo. (Very abroad, as Ta Lo is another dimension.) This also makes it so aspects of the comic book version of T’Challa are split between father and son for the live-action iteration.
It’s common knowledge that soap operas and comic books hate little kids. They’re cute for a minute, but the creators of these stories always seek to age the kids up quickly. In daytime soaps like General Hospital, kids were born, and within a few years of “being away at boarding school,” often returned to the show as teenagers. (Their parents, of course, did not age at all.) Comics have done the same thing with characters like Cyclops and Jean Grey’s son Nathan from the X-Men. He was a baby for a brief time before being whisked away to the far future and later returning to the present as the adult hero Cable. The TV series Angel did the same thing. In that series, the vampire hero’s infant son gets lost in another dimension. He returned a few episodes later as a teenager. It has become its own tried-and-true trope.
Shuri probably has a few more appearances as Black Panther in the MCU. Yet we imagine Marvel wants someone named T’Challa wearing the vibranium suit in the near future. We’re not sure when Ryan Coogler is making Black Panther III. But it probably won’t hit theaters until after they complete The Multiverse Saga. But during Phase 5, Marvel Studios should consider giving us a post-credits scene (preferably to the long-awaited Shang-Chi sequel). It could show the citizens of Ta Lo welcoming young T’Challa II to their world. This way, the third Black Panther film can get him as the Panther up and running from the start, with the young Prince standing ready to assume the throne and the name Black Panther.