The MCU just introduced its second female Black Panther in Marvel Studios' latest Disney+ offering, Eyes of Wakanda. MCU moviegoers met the Black Panther in Captain America: Civil War when Chadwick Boseman's T'Challa held the mantle. However, T'Challa was replaced in the mantle in the 2022 sequel after Boseman passed away in August 2020, at which point the MCU got a female Black Panther in his stead. Even when the Black Panther was introduced as a male superhero, it was clear that Wakanda was still filled with strong female warriors. Most notably, Danai Gurira's Okoye and the Dora Milaje served as Wakanda's royal security and got some high-tech upgrades to become the Midnight Angels in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Marvel Studios introduced the MCU's sixth Black Panther in Disney+'s Eyes of Wakanda, who is only the second female incarnation in the franchise. The mysterious Last Panther will become one day Wakanda's Queen Mother in the 24th century and use time travel to return to 1896 on a desperate mission.
While the MCU has only featured two female Black Panthers, there was another in the pages of Marvel Comics with the 11th-century Iya Nehanda. As the young daughter of a Jabari tribe warrior, Nehanda was trained in the occult magical arts and became Wakanda's queen and Black Panther after challenging for the throne.
Beyond just that, Nehanda also stepped out of Wakanda to fight alongside an early Avengers, including a young Thor. Supposedly, at a time when Thor was injured, Nehanda was even able to summon Mjolnir and wield the hammer in battle.
As of now, Iya Nehanda's existence in the MCU has never been confirmed, meaning the franchise currently only has two female Black Panthers...
Shuri - Letitia Wright
Marvel Studios was left with an impossible problem when Chadwick Boseman, the MCU's T'Challa actor and the face of the Black Panther franchise, passed away in 2020 before the 2022 sequel Wakanda Forever started production.
Both the franchise and Wakanda were left with a tough succession problem that landed T'Challa's sister, Letitia Wright's Shuri, in the Black Panther suit. On her heroic journey, Shuri endured plenty of trauma, losing her brother to an unknown illness and seeing her mother, Queen Ramonda, murdered by Namor.
In turn, Shuri stepped up to seek revenge and became the MCU's first confirmed female Black Panther, who may also be the first woman to carry the mantle. Despite signing up as Wakanda's protector, Shuri did not seem interested in taking on the throne, seemingly leaving those duties to Winston Duke's M'Baku.
Shuri will bring her familiar blend of Black Panther ass-kicking and scientific expertise back to the MCU next year as she takes on "a little bit more to do" in Avengers: Doomsday compared to Infinity War and Endgame.
The Last Panther - Anika Noni Rose
If Shuri was indeed the first female Black Panther, it appears she shattered a glass ceiling that would reverberate through Wakanda for many years.
Eyes of Wakanda debuted a brand-new female Black Panther from the 24th century, around 300 years after the current MCU, who would serve as Wakanda's Queen Mother and go to great lengths to save it from an alien invasion.
After the Horde desomated her Wakanda, The Last Panther time-traveled back to 1896 to restore a sequence of events involving Michael B. Jordan's Kilmonger. These events are those of 2018's Black Panther, which would lead T'Challa to open up the hidden nation to the world, who would aid them in the alien attack.
As she hails from the far future, the unnamed Wakandan hero was equipped with all the advanced technology of her time, including an upgraded suit that allowed her to project a vision of the Horde into Tafari and Kuda's minds.
The MCU's Next Black Panther Will Probably Be Male
While Letitia Wright's Shuri has only just become Black Panther, Marvel Studios is already casting a new Wakandan hero, either to replace her in Phase 7 or go buddy-cop as joint protectors of the fictional African nation.
Having introduced T'Challa's son Toussaint in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the studio is supposedly seeking an actor to play an aged-up T'Challa II, with F1 star Damson Idris possibly in talks for the MCU role.
This doesn't necessarily mean that Shuri is about to meet a grizzly end, however, as early plans for Wakanda Forever had her and Chadwick Boseman's T'Challa fighting side-by-side, both as the Black Panther.
