Everybody knows that Wakandan king T’Challa, aka Black Panther, died when Thanos snapped his fingers in Avengers: Infinity War, turning half the universe’s population to ash with the power of the Infinity Stones. But now, one Black Panther actress may have revealed two Marvel characters from Wakanda who supposedly survived the catastrophic event.
Screen Rant published an article Wednesday based on an interview with Angela Bassett for her work in Mission: Impossible — Fallout. The actress also plays Queen Mother Ramonda in the MCU, mother to Shuri and T’Challa. When asked directly if her character died during the events of Infinity War, Bassett offered a surprisingly direct answer:
“No,” she said. “Neither did my daughter. Shuri, she’s a bright girl there in Wakanda.”
So that means Queen Mother Ramonda and Princess Shuri (Letitia Wright) survived the event and should be around for Avengers 4.
However, it’s tough to know whether or not we ought to accept this as the definitive, canonical answer. Bassett’s Ramonda didn’t appear in Infinity War, and as of this writing, she isn’t credited on Avengers 4 either, so it’s possible that Bassett herself doesn’t know what happens to these characters in the next movie.
Queen Mother Ramonda and Princess Shuri made their debut in 'Black Panther'.
We’re still more than nine months away from Avengers 4, and Marvel Studios is being very secretive about any and all confirmed plot details. If these two characters did survive, then they’d be hugely important to helping Wakanda in the wake of Thanos’ snap.
Ramonda could conceivably help govern Wakanda in T’Challa’s absence, but it’s Shuri’s scientific brilliance that could be hugely important in Avengers 4. Shuri already played an integral role in Infinity War, proving herself more capable and smarter than any of the scientists in the Avengers. And in the comics, Shuri even becomes the Black Panther and ruler of Wakanda, just like her brother did before her.
Could we see the same in Avengers 4? No matter what happens, if Shuri’s alive then she’ll almost certainly work with Tony Stark and Bruce Banner on some science-based solution that’ll probably involve traveling through time and/or to alternate dimensions to undo the Snap.
Shuri (Letita Wright) in 'Black Panther.'
That last anybody saw of Shuri during Infinity War was while she performed an operation trying to extract the Mind Stone from Vision’s forehead when Corvus Glaive rudely interrupted. Shuri was knocked downstairs deeper into her lab and never seen again. Thanos snapped his fingers only a few minutes later, and while Okoye survived and T’Challa turned to dust, there was no real way to know who else lived or died in Wakanda.
Since Infinity War was released in late April, fans have speculated about who might’ve survived Thanos’ infamous snap. The Russo brothers did confirm that Valkyrie survived, but Shuri and Ramonda remained questionable, especially when they claimed in May that confirming whether or not Shuri survived would be some kind of “spoiler.”
What exactly could that mean? We can’t possibly know until Avengers 4 releases on May 03, 2019.
