Shuri suited up as the MCU’s new Black Panther in Phase 4’s Wakanda Forever, but concept art reveals that she almost had one unique power upgrade.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever concept art has revealed that Marvel Studios almost gave Shuri one unique power upgrade in the Phase 4 film. After the tragic 2020 passing of Chadwick Boseman, who portrayed the MCU’s T’Challa, a.k.a. the Black Panther, since Captain America: Civil War, Letitia Wright stepped up to become the main character in Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther sequel. Wakanda Forever saw Wright’s Shuri follow in her late brother’s footsteps by taking up the mantle of the Black Panther and setting out to protect Wakanda against the forces of MCU newcomer Namor and his underwater army.
While the Black Panther had been a staple of Marvel Comics since his July 1966 debut, Shuri wasn’t introduced to the Marvel Universe until 2005’s Black Panther Vol. 4 #2, eventually taking up the mantle of the Black Panther in 2009 after T’Challa suffered serious injuries during a battle with Namor. A variation of this storyline became the basis of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever following Boseman’s passing, with the Phase 4 film paying tribute to the fallen King by allowing T’Challa’s legacy to continue. Since Wakanda Forever’s release, details of the original plan have surfaced, including one interesting upgrade for Shuri, which could become important in the MCU’s future.
Shuri Almost Had Wings In Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
In December 2022, concept artist Phil Saunders took to Instagram to share his early drawings from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Saunders revealed that he took inspiration from the Wakandan run of Marvel Comics’ solo Ironheart series, which saw Riri Williams team up with Shuri, similarly to how they eventually did in the MCU film. During this series, Shuri sports a handy pair of nanotech wings, which it seems were almost featured in her look for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, though they were omitted following major rewrites and a shift in focus for the Phase 4 project.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Phil Saunders (@philjdsaunders)
This would have been a fantastic upgrade for Shuri in the original T’Challa-centric Black Panther: Wakanda Forever storyline, as it would have teased one small step closer to her Black Panther destiny. 2018’s Black Panther saw Shuri making good use of her vibranium panther gauntlets, but it was her genius mind that was put in the spotlight. Saunders’ concept art reveals that, in every version of Wakanda Forever’s storyline, Shuri was set to have a more physical and heroic role in the sequel, which would eventually manifest as her taking over the Black Panther mantle. However, it’s possible that her wings could still make their MCU debut.
Shuri’s Black Panther Had Wings In Marvel Comics
While it may have seemed outlandish to see Shuri don wings in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, this idea was actually taken directly from the pages of Marvel Comics. Shuri’s 2018-19 ten-issue solo comic series saw the young hero set out on a mission to find her missing brother, sporting the Black Panther suit on a journey that took her across the globe and even into outer space. This series also saw Shuri’s Black Panther suit equipped with a massive pair of wings, so while Saunders’ concept art featured Shuri with wings but not as the Black Panther, her MCU future could see her take to the skies.
The version of Shuri seen in Marvel Comics is different from her MCU counterpart in a variety of other ways too, including the comic version’s mastery of anamorphism, the ability to transform oneself into an animal. For Shuri, this power allows her to take the form of a large dark bird, meaning her Black Panther sporting wings was the next logical step for the young hero. Letitia Wright’s Shuri hasn’t been seen to demonstrate this ability, and it’s likely that she won’t as Marvel Studios try and stay as realistic as possible, but gifting the MCU’s new Black Panther wings in a future MCU project would be a great homage.
Wings On Shuri’s Black Panther Would Give Her Another Great Power
Shuri’s previous MCU appearances in Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame cemented the fact that the Princess of Wakanda is one of the most brilliant scientific and technological minds on the planet. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever proved this again as Shuri developed a synthetic heart-shaped herb, allowing her to become the Black Panther and protecting the legacy of the mantle for years to come. Even so, Wakanda Forever saw Shuri gain a plethora of physical abilities, too, as she gained the powers of the Black Panther, including enhanced strength, speed, stamina, and allowing her to survive a stab wound through the abdomen during her battle with Namor.
Should Shuri’s Black Panther suit be equipped with wings in the MCU’s future, this would make for a brilliant upgrade to her power set and help differentiate her version of the Black Panther further from T’Challa’s. The Wakandans have already proven that they can create a set of functional vibranium wings, as they gifted a pair to Sam Wilson during The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which he now sports as the MCU’s new Captain America. This would be a great next step for Shuri in the MCU following Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
