Black Panther 2 Theory Reveals The Truth Of Wakanda's Namor Fight
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is expected to introduce Namor and Atlantis - and one theory suggests Wakanda will discover the undersea kingdom.
Wakanda could actually be responsible for instigating the war against Namor and Atlantis in Black Panther: World of Wakanda. In the comics, the historic relationship between Wakanda and Atlantis is a troubled one. Both are numbered among Marvel's so-called "Hidden Kingdoms," ancient civilizations that have concealed themselves from the rest of the human race until the present day. But Namor, Prince of Atlantis, launched a massive attack upon Wakanda while under the influence of the Phoenix Force, initiating a war between Black Panther's Wakanda and his nation of Atlantis. Although the war is over, relations remain tense.
There have been longstanding and consistent rumors Namor is in Black Panther 2, with Narcos: Mexico star Tenoch Huerta believed to be playing the part of the King of Atlantis. Assuming these rumors are correct, one of the greatest conflicts in Marvel Comics history - the war between Atlantis and Wakanda, which almost crippled both nations - is soon to come to the MCU. Marvel has been setting up Atlantis for a long time, with a mysterious SHIELD hotspot in the Atlantic Ocean in Iron Man 2 and reports of ominous undersea earthquakes in Avengers: Endgame. So, assuming the rumors are true, it will be exciting to see this setup realized.
Most viewers assume Atlantis will be the aggressor in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, but there's a significant problem with that argument. In the MCU, Namor has no clear reason to wage war against Wakanda in particular. Marvel can't follow DC's Aquaman route of simply having Namor decide he has had enough with humanity's polluting the seas. Not only would this be repetitive rather than original, it wouldn't explain why Atlantis would target Wakanda of all countries. The secretive African nation is hardly one of the world's greatest polluters, after all. Rather, it's more likely Wakanda will somehow stumble upon Atlantis, forcing Namor and his people out of the shadows.
The answer may well lie in the precious metal Vibranium. 2.5 million years ago, a meteorite rich in Vibranium struck the African continent in the region that would become Wakanda. Vibranium dust coated the entire area, and the radiation released from the rare metal led flora and fauna to evolve in a unique way. Humans settled in that area over 10,000 years ago, and tribal conflicts only came to an end when one warrior-chieftain, Bashenga, received a vision from the Panther God. Bashenga was guided to the rare Heart-Shaped Herb, a plant that had evolved in the Vibranium-rich soils — ingesting it transformed him into the first Black Panther. He was the one who unified the tribes and established the nation of Wakanda. Vibranium became the key to Wakanda's technology, with the nation's scientists unlocking scientific secrets and ecologically-friendly tech that's far beyond anything seen on the rest of the planet.
There have been consistent reports that Wakanda will begin looking for more Vibranium in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The general assumption is that Wakanda is running out of Vibranium and needs more to keep its society flourishing. King T'Challa opened Wakanda's borders in Black Panther, and increasing demand for Vibranium could have exhausted the main deposits, found at the Great Mound where the meteorite struck 2.5 million years ago. The core problem with this theory, however, is that there's no evidence demand for Vibranium has spiked in this manner. So far, the MCU's Phase 4 has only introduced one new piece of Vibranium tech: Sam Wilson's new wings in The Falcon & the Winter Soldier. There's no logical reason to assume the mines at Wakanda's Great Mound are in danger of being exhausted.
Wakanda does have another reason for seeking more Vibranium. They could be looking for more flora and fauna that has been exposed to Vibranium radiation, specifically for a substitute for the Heart-Shaped Herb. Bashenga was the first to ingest the Heart-Shaped Herb around 10,000 years ago, communing with Bast in a mystical experience and becoming the first Black Panther. Every successor went through the same experience, ingesting the Heart-Shaped Herb and visiting the Ancestral Plane in a vision. All that changed in Black Panther, when Killmonger rose to power in Wakanda and tried to ensure he could not be replaced by destroying all stocks of the Heart-Shaped Herb.
In 2020, Marvel Studios published The Wakanda Files, a technological exploration of the MCU through the eyes of Shuri, Wakanda's greatest scientist. According to The Wakanda Files, Shuri was desperately attempting to recreate the effect of the Heart-Shaped Herb using a synthetic equivalent, but she was drawing a blank given she didn't have any of the original substance to study. This inevitably means T'Challa will be the last Black Panther. Given that Wakandan culture revolves around the Black Panther, this 10,000-year-old civilization faces the risk of collapse should he die. Disturbingly, that seems to have been exactly what has happened> Marvel has pledged not to recast T'Challa after the tragic passing of Chadwick Boseman, and set videos suggest T'Challa has indeed died. One video of Wakanda's throne-room showed new inscriptions on its columns. Some letters were obscured but can be deduced, and the inscriptions seem to read: "REST IN POWER, KING T'CHALLA, OUR HERO, (I)T WAS AN HONOR, (WAKA)NDA FOREVER."
If Wakandan civilization is to survive - if the film's titular promise of "Wakanda Forever" is to be fulfilled - then the Wakandans need to discover either more of the Heart-Shaped Herb, or a substitute that has a similar effect. Their best bet would be to scour the globe looking for any traces of Vibranium. Meteorites often come in swarms, and it's entire possible the one that struck the African continent 2.5 million years ago was accompanied by others. If that is the case, then there could be other parts of the world where plants and wildlife have mutated due to Vibranium radiation, creating something similar to the Heart-Shaped Herb.
In the comics, there are only two places on Earth where Vibranium is found: Wakanda and Antarctica (the X-Men have long obtained Vibranium from Antarctica, where they have friends and allies living in another secretive realm known as the Savage Land). The MCU has never been a perfect reproduction of the comics, however, and it's quite possible that in this shared universe a Vibranium meteorite struck the sea-bed somewhere in the Atlantic. Vibranium could therefore have become the foundation of Atlantean civilization, just as it became the basis of Wakanda's science and culture; and the Vibranium radiation could be responsible for the fantastical undersea creatures associated Namor the Sub-Mariner.
Vibranium radiation is unique, and thus can be detected. If the MCU's Atlantis is indeed built on a foundation of Vibranium, then it's easy to imagine a scenario where the Wakandans discovered the deposits - presumably using an advanced sensor-sweep from orbital satellites - and sent an expedition to the sea-bed to check it out. It's important to remember there is an entire ecosystem on the sea-bed, so plenty of flora and fauna could have been mutated. That's especially the case if the MCU's Namor's Atlantis is in the middle of the Atlantic, as perhaps indicated by Iron Man 2's SHIELD hotspot, where the Mid-Atlantic Ridge provides an alternative energy source for life to the sun. Wakanda's expedition - likely led by Shuri, head of the Wakandan Research Group - would head to the sea-bed expecting simply to discover some mutated creatures and plants, and instead discover the existence of the city of Atlantis - prompting Namor and the Atlanteans to respond in an attempt to continue concealing their existence. This could easily serve to begin the Atlantis-Wakanda War in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.