Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

The thirtieth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the sequel to 2018's Black Panther, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is the final entry in Phase 4 of the MCU.

Some time after the events of Avengers: Endgame, T'Challa confessed to being Secretly Dying. Though his sister Shuri tried to save him, following Killmonger's destruction of the Heart-Shaped Herb, there was nothing that could be done. A year later, Wakanda, deprived of its protector, contends with the power it wields on the world stage, the legacy of their beloved king and the fact that their power might not be as unique as they thought... Even more: the wielders of said not as unique power, the underwater realm of Talokan led by King Namor, soon come in conflict with them.

Tropes used in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever include:

• Aborted Arc: The Wakandans wonder where Talokan could have gotten vibranium and speculate that it might have come from a second meteorite (or some broke off Wakanda's meteorite as it was falling down to Earth). Okoye notes that, if true, this would be a massive culture shift in Wakanda but this socio-political upheaval is given no follow up.
• Adaptation Name Change: The comics' Atlantis becomes the MCU's Talokan.
• Adaptational Heroism: Zig-zagged for Attuma. On the one hand, he's working with Namor rather than being one of his enemies but Namor is hardly what one would call heroic.
• Adapted Out: As the Fantastic Four had not been yet properly introduced in the MCU, Namor's stalker tendencies towards Sue Storm are not present.
• Affirmative Action Legacy: Both the mantles of Black Panther and Iron Man are taken up by dark-skinned women.
• Always Someone Better: The Talokanians to the Wakandans. Though the Wakandans manage to deliver a Curb Stomp Cushion in the climax.
• Badass Bookworm: Both Shuri and Riri Williams.
• Card-Carrying Villain: Namor's Appropriated Appellation is ripped from the Spanish "sin amor" (without love). After the action, he all but admits to Namora that he loves being a supervillain.
• Darker and Edgier: Compared to its predecessor.
• Dead Guy, Junior: T'Challa, son of T'Challa.
• Disproportionate Retribution: For building a machine that can detect vibranium, the Talokan want Riri dead. For context, literally no one on Earth knew of Talokan and all Riri was doing was science. How was she to know she threatened a people who had been self-isolating to the point of being unknown to all?
• Eagle Land: As per MCU tradition, it's a Type 2. The US government is shown as a boorish war-hungry state eager to level the playing field with Wakanda, just counting the days until it's a better position to wage open war for Vibranium.
• Emperor Scientist: What Shuri ultimately becomes. It offers a nice contrast to Namor's God-Emperor.
• French Jerk: The French delegates at the UN are barely covering up their colonial ambitions.
• Logical Weakness: The Talokanians are sea-dwellers. On land, they're slower and can be dried out. When Shuri manages to trap Namor in the desert, all she has to do is run out the clock.
  • As their evolution made them tuned to sonic disturbances, a sonic weapon is debilitating for them.
  • Namor needs both sets of wings on his feet to fly. When Shuri cuts them off his right foot, he's off-balance and can only manage a few seconds of hovering.
• Mayincatec: The Talokan. A very Justified Trope: they ARE Mayans who found ways to turn themselves into merpeople to escape the bloody Spanish conquest and colonization of Mexico.
• Moral Myopia: Namor is furious that Nakia trespassed upon Talokanil to rescue Shuri and Riri. Never mind his trespassing on the sovereign soil of other nations or inciting war between nations for his benefit.
• Mutants: In addition to the standard Talokan powers, Namor's X-gene allows him to survive on land uninhibited, fly and make him Long Lived.
• Never Be Hurt Again: The Talokans went through lots of horrors before they managed to found their own realm, and became extremely embittered and insular as a result.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Namor allowing Shuri to take a sample of the Talokanil Herb allows her to recreate the Heart-Shaped Herb, allowing for a new Black Panther than can match him.
• Reality Ensues: Even with the Herb, Shuri is ultimately Unskilled but Strong next to Namor's Strong and Skilled. Even with Worf Had the Flu, Shuri is on the backfoot.
• Rogues Gallery Transplant: Namor locks horns with Shuri.
• The Reveal: Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, the Hidden Agenda Villain of Phase 4, is revealed to be the director of the C.I.A.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right: Everett K. Ross commits high treason against the United States because he knows the Wakandans are good people and can be trusted not to start a war, unlike the United States.
• Shadow Archetype: Essentially what Talokan is to Wakanda. Insular, dedicated to making sure no outsider gets in and willing to murder to protect their vibranium with a pronounced case of It's All About Me. They're what Wakanda might have become if T'Challa had decided to be like the kings of old.
• Spiritual Antithesis: To Spider-Man: Far From Home. Both films explore a new hero (Peter Parker and Shuri) trying to fill the void that their deceased predecessor (Tony Stark and T'Challa) left behind.
  • After his journey, Peter ultimately chose to live up to Tony's legacy only Mysterio's posthumous actions to rob him of the chance. Shuri's journey leads her to Abdicate the Throne, though still retaining the Black Panther persona, choosing to honour her brother but not take his place.
  • The Bad Guy Wins sentiments in Far From Home were a twist at the end of a generally Lighter and Softer Breather Episode. This film is a Darker and Edgier film released after several Breather Episodes and despite Namor's victory, there's a feeling of hope that Wakanda will find a way to overcome him while Peter was unable to ever truly overcome Mysterio's legacy.
• Superman Stays Out of Gotham: No other superheroes show up to deal with the Wakanda/Talokan conflict.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Riri Williams managing to build a vibranium detector.
• Villain Ball: If Namor is to be taken at his word, his actions were a complicated Batman Gambit to back Wakanda in a corner so they'd ally with Talokan if and when the time came. But Wakanda was already isolated globally when the film opened and would likely have been more receptive to an alliance if Namor had approached peacefully. Then again, Namor is a Card-Carrying Villain.