New Black Panther Identity Debate Sparked By Early LEGO Sets

New Black Panther: Wakanda Forever LEGO sets have reignited debate over who will succeed Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa as the next Black Panther. Now that Thor: Love and Thunder has been playing in theaters for several weeks, attention has slowly been shifting to the next film on the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s docket, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which was recently confirmed to be the end of Phase 4. Boseman tragically passed away due to colon cancer in 2020 and the Black Panther sequel is expected to directly deal with the weight of this tremendous loss.

Letitia Wright returns to lead the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever cast as Shuri – she was given a larger role in the sequel following Boseman’s death. Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Winston Duke, Angela Bassett, and Florence Kasumba also reprise their roles, while newcomers include Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams/Ironheart, I May Destroy You‘s Michaela Coel as Aneka, and Tenoch Huerta as Namor are set to make their respective MCU debuts. The first Black Panther: Wakanda Forever trailer debuted during San Diego Comic-Con 2022, revealing a look at an unknown character donning a newly designed Black Panther suit.

Now, new Black Panther: Wakanda Forever LEGO sets have reignited debate over who will take on the Black Panther mantle. A total of three LEGO sets were revealed via 9To5Toys, including Shuri’s Sunbird, Shuri’s Lab, and King Namor’s Throne Room. The last set includes a Shuri minifigure who appears to be wearing the redesigned Black Panther suit seen in the teaser trailer, indicated by the gold trim. Check out a look at the LEGO set in question below:

As the Princess of Wakanda, Shuri has long been the leading candidate to succeed T’Challa as the next Black Panther. She is the younger sister of the former king of Wakanda and by all accounts, the heiress to his throne. In the comics, Shuri became Black Panter when T’Challa was injured, so there is some precedent for this succession to occur in the MCU. The only case that can be made against Shuri pertains to some behind-the-scenes controversy involving Wright, who reportedly spread anti-vax sentiments on set leading to further reports that Marvel even considered rewriting the sequel because of these issues.

However, these tensions appear to be all but resolved and Shuri remains the frontrunner to become the next Black Panther. If by a long shot, she doesn’t turn out to be T’Challa’s successor, other candidates include Nakia and Okoye. While fans will likely have to wait until Black Panther: Wakanda Forever releases in theaters on November 11 to find out for sure who the new Black Panther is, perhaps this reveal is being saved for the film’s full-length trailer.