Why Black Panther: Wakanda Has Marvel’s Best End Credit Scene Ever

 Everything changes during the end credits. Marvel Studios has always included scenes during and after the credits to keep fans interested and tease what’s to come. It’s where we first saw Nick Fury, Thanos and Wanda, and were teased about Captain Marvel. These are all crucial, memorable, and exciting scenes. Despite this, we believe Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has the best credits scene in Marvel Studios history.

There is only one end credits scene in Wakanda Forever, and it is in the middle. Picking up seconds after the film ends, we see Shuri (Letitia Wright) still crying on the beach in Haiti as she burns her funeral robe, signalling the end of her brother’s and mother’s mourning. Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) arrives to join her, but she is not alone. She’s accompanied by a young boy. Toussaint (Divine Love Konadu-Sun) is his name, and he is the son of T’Challa and Nakia. That, indeed, makes him an heir to Wakanda’s throne.

T’Challa wanted Toussaint to grow up away from the pressures of the throne, according to Nakia, which is why he remained hidden. We also learn that he met Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett) at some point. Shuri is surprised, but relieved. She converses with her nephew, and he then reveals another secret to her. He claims “Toussaint” is just his Haitian name. His given name is T’Challa, after his father.

When the waterworks stop, the scene’s implications are enormous. First and foremost, T’Challa has a son who will carry on his name and family line. That could pave the way for him to become the next Black Panther or even King of Wakanda. However, those hypotheticals from decades ago are not why this scene is at the top of the MCU mountain. No, it’s how director Ryan Coogler bakes the reveal into the film’s DNA.

Angela Bassett as Ramonda in Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2022 MARVEL.

The reveal of T’Challa’s son not only packs a powerful emotional punch, but it also clarifies several lingering plot threads. For example, we never learn why Nakia, T’Challa’s significant other, did not attend his funeral. In fact, we don’t know why she left Wakanda or how she grieved his death. This scene explains everything. T’Challa himself wished for his son to avoid Wakanda. He also prepared him and Nakia for his death, most likely by telling them he was sick, something he never told anyone else. The revelation also explains Ramonda’s earlier in the film line to Shuri, “There’s something I have to tell you about your brother,” which is cut off by Namor’s arrival. Finally, and much less exciting, but still noteworthy, it explains why Nakia was calling Shuri at the start of the film.

Furthermore, meeting the boy provides an even warmer, more loving, and deeper conclusion to the film as a whole. Shuri has triumphed over her demons. She, like her brother, rejected vengeance in favour of mercy. She’s not like Killmonger, as she had feared. Then, just as she’s about to leave, her family grows and her heart expands thanks to this little boy. What could have been a depressing ending with Shuri simply mourning her losses becomes cathartic and hopeful.

No end credits scene in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has ever done such a masterful job of tying up loose ends and adding a crucial component to the just-watched narrative. The fact that it’s also a major shock and incredibly moving only enhances the revelation; the fact that it ends with the movie’s formal dedication to Chadwick Boseman is the icing on the cake.