Black Panther 3's First Story Update Makes 1 MCU Disney+ Show More Important

Black Panther 3 seems to have its first story details teased ahead of its production and release. The MCU is slowly pushing towards developing new solo movies after this year's Avengers: Doomsday and next year's Avengers: Secret Wars. This will include going back to one of Marvel’s most successful solo stories, Black Panther, after what has already been a four-year gap in releases.

A report revealed new details about connections between Black Panther 3 and the Eyes of Wakanda series on Disney+. According to The Cosmic Circus' Alex Perez, the movie will lean "heavily into the mystical aspect of Wakandan lore and mythology." Additionally, Perez explained that there are expected to be "a few connections to the lore from Eyes of Wakanda."

Marvel Studios had previously indicated that the animated Eyes of Wakanda series was canon to the greater MCU, even though it is set across thousands of years of history before the main MCU story starts. This animated anthology series follows the Hatut Zeraze (Wakanda's elite spies and War Dogs) as they travel through history on dangerous global missions. Specifically, these warriors and spies are tasked with finding and retrieving lost, stolen, or dangerous vibranium artifacts that could expose the secrets Wakanda has kept over the centuries.

This would be the first deep exploration of Wakanda's history in the live-action MCU, even though both of the first few movies have been largely set in the hidden African nation. While it is still unclear if the specific stories told in Eyes of Wakanda will be referenced in Black Panther 3, the country's legacy should play a major role in the main plot of the movie, which is still being kept under wraps.

Previously, the first Black Panther included some teases about the country's long-hidden history, but the main story focused on the Wakandan civil war between factions led by T'Challa and Erik Killmonger. The second movie was less focused on Wakandan history, as it had the tall task of honoring the late Chadwick Boseman and introducing Tenoch Huerta's Namor the Sub-Mariner.

Black Panther 3 will be the MCU's third dive into the Wakanda-based sub-franchise following the end of the Multiverse Saga. While its release timeframe is currently unconfirmed, it is expected to be the first movie released in the MCU's Phase 7. Outside of a role for Denzel Washington, the movie's cast is unconfirmed, although Letitia Wright's Shuri and Winston Duke's M'Baku are heavily expected to return.

Wakandan History Explored in Black Panther 3

Utilizing thousands of unexplored years of history, Eyes of Wakanda took place in four distinct years: 1260 B.C., 1200 B.C., 1400 A.D., and 1896 A.D. Making the show the earliest entry in the entire MCU timeline, this show now seems to be setting the stage for some of what to expect from the next live-action Black Panther movie, which will come after the next two Avengers films.

This could potentially be explored through new characters in this movie, one of whom will be played by Oscar-winner Denzel Washington. Washington is rumored to play this movie's main villain (who has not been revealed yet), potentially setting him up to have deep ties to Wakandan history with the War Dogs and Hatut Zeraze upon his arrival.

While rumors have pointed to filming for Black Panther 3 starting before the end of the year, a specific production timeframe is still being kept under wraps. However, with Wright and Duke both set to play big roles in at least Avengers: Doomsday and likely Avengers: Secret Wars, those movies will help set the stage for what fans will see in the next Black Panther solo film.