How the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever end-credits scene teases the future of Wakanda

Warning: This story contains spoilers for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever pays tribute to a fallen hero — and also introduces a new one.

The much-anticipated Marvel sequel is now in theaters, returning to the fictional nation of Wakanda for a new adventure. Once again directed by Ryan Coogler, the film finds Wakandan heroes like Shuri (Letitia Wright), Nakia (Lupita Nyong'o), Okoye (Danai Gurira), and Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett) mourning the death of their late king T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman, who died unexpectedly in August 2020 after a private battle with colon cancer).

Wakanda Forever is both a moving tribute to its late star and a joyous adventure, following T'Challa's sister Shuri as she grapples with her brother's death and becomes the new Black Panther. Boseman's legacy looms large, and the film celebrates him in multiple ways, including with an emotional funeral scene at the beginning and a bittersweet montage near the end. But Wakanda Forever also saves one of its biggest surprises for the end-credits scene — honoring T'Challa while also preserving his legacy for the future. (Spoilers ahead!)

Wakanda Forever has only one end-credits scene, which comes about midway through the credits (after Rihanna's ballad "Lift Me Up" plays). The scene finds Shuri visiting Nakia in Haiti, where Nakia has been living and working as a teacher. There, Nakia introduces the Wakandan princess to her nephew: Nakia and T'Challa's son. Nakia explains that the late T'Challa wanted his son to grow up away from the pressures and politics of Wakanda, so she has been raising him here in secret. The boy's name is Toussaint, but he also bears the Wakandan name T'Challa — just like his dad.

Both names have a powerful history: T'Challa, of course, is a tribute to his late father, and it sets up a potential future where the young boy might someday follow in his family's footsteps and take up the mantle of Black Panther. As for Toussaint, it's a reference to Toussaint Louverture, the legendary leader of the Haitian Revolution. Born on a sugar plantation in the 18th century, Louverture was a former slave who rose to prominence as a brilliant military mind, and he went on to lead the only successful slave revolt in modern history. (Historians have referred to him as "the first Black superhero of the modern age.")

It's a nice change of pace from the usual Marvel end-credits scene, which often ends with a goofy reference or a splashy casting announcement. Wakanda Forever instead takes a far more moving approach, and the scene functions as both an emotional tribute to Boseman and a powerful look ahead to the next generation. Marvel hasn't yet announced plans for a Wakanda Forever sequel, but after the end credits, there's a brief card declaring, James Bond-style, that "Black Pantherwill return." We'll have to wait and see as to exactly when and how, but the end-credits scene makes it clear that Wakanda really will endure Forever.

Related content:

• Forever changed: The grief and joy of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
• Ryan Coogler almost quit filmmaking after Chadwick Boseman's death
• Black Panther: Wakanda Forever first reactions call it Marvel's 'most poignant and powerful film'
• How Black Panther: Wakanda Forever introduces Dominique Thorne as Ironheart
• Ryan Coogler breaks down the emotional Black Panther: Wakanda Forever trailer