Ever since Black Panther was released in theaters, showing fans a visage of Bast and witnessing Chadwick Boseman's T'Challa visiting the Ancestral Plane, many wondered if either were 100% real. However, while Black Panther may have been ambiguous regarding its more fantastical elements, Moon Knight has been anything but, especially in the latest episode, "Asylum."
It was always left to chance that the vision brought on by the consumption of the heart-shaped herb caused one to hallucinate Wakanda's afterlife, but the latest episode of Moon Knight no longer leaves any doubt about it. The Ancestral Plane is real, which carries significant implications for the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe moving forward.
Black Panther's Ancestral Plane Exists
In Episode 5 of Moon Knight, Oscar Isaac's Marc Spector begins to question if they're in "the" afterlife, but Taweret corrects him, saying that it's merely "an" afterlife. The goddess names the Ancestral Plane as one example, which she finds "gorgeous."
This confirms that the Ancestral Plane seen in Black Panther wasn't a hallucination brought on by the heart-shaped herb, but an actual heaven-like plane of existence Wakandians go to after death. Something which would explain the appearance of N'Jadaka's father, N'Jobu, in the Ancestral Plane, despite having never consumed the herb.
Not only that, but it being an entirely separate afterlife suggests that Wakanda has a pantheon of gods, much like the comics, with its equivalent of the Ennead being the Orisha, which includes, but is not limited to, Thoth, Bast, Kokou, Mujaji, and Ptah, seen above.
How Many Others Exist?
As Thor and the rest of the Asgardians are highly advanced and powerful aliens in the MCU, it's uncertain if Valhalla exists as an afterlife, if it's merely another dimension, or simply part of Asgardian myth. In the comics, it is a real place, currently hidden in the realm of Niflheim, the same realm where Odin had banished his daughter, Hela.
Coincidently, it is also where Odin had sent all the Valkeries to hold Hela at bay, and all but Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie survived. So, could it be possible that Valhalla, like the comics, is hidden in Niflheim? Will audiences see Odin again, who may have arrived there after his death in Thor: Ragnarok?
It's possible that Gorr could be invading these afterlives, including Valhalla, perhaps to hunt down even dead gods, such as Odin. Another possibility is either Thor, Jane Foster's Mighty Foster, or Valkerie, even temporarily, die and go to Valhalla.
Fans will see if other afterlives are glimpsed in Thor: Love and Thunder when it releases in theaters on July 8.
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