The fourth Avengers: Doomsday trailer finally resolves the biggest cliffhanger from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Although Shuri accepted the mantle of the Black Panther, she had no intention of claiming the throne as well. It’s not the first time the role of Black Panther and king have been separated in Marvel lore, but it’s a new development for the MCU.

But who was the new monarch? Wakanda Forever strongly implied it was in fact Winston Duke’s M’Baku, originally a rival for T’Challa himself. M’Baku is an incredibly popular character, and the prospect of seeing him step up on to a wider stage is absolutely thrilling. He’d also add an enjoyable dynamic, because his philosophy is so different to T’Challa and even Shuri’s.

We Now Know M’Baku is King of Wakanda

The new Avengers: Doomsday teaser is set in Wakanda, featuring Shuri’s return. Her voice-over confirms that M’Baku is Wakanda’s new king, and that his role is apparently to prepare his people for death. It’s yet another indicator of the sheer scale of Doomsday, and it follows on perfectly from the previous X-Men Doomsday trailer, which suggested the mutant reality too is facing death. Wakanda’s role mirrors the comics that set up 2015’s Secret Wars event, where T’Challa was the first person to learn the multiverse was at risk.

There are subtle signs that Wakanda has changed a lot during M’Baku’s reign. Shuri’s Black Panther armor has changed a lot, incorporating a colorscheme that indicates Atlantean technology has been integrated with her own costume. It’s clear the alliance between Wakanda and Atlantis has gone from strength to strength, with both benefiting from it. That’s something of a surprise, because M’Baku was always rather more isolationist than T’Challa; however, both kingdoms have historically been withdrawn from other civilizations, so they have a lot in common.

The interesting question is whether M’Baku’s Wakanda is continuing to share technology with the rest of the MCU. It’s actually a little amusing seeing the Fantastic Four apparently arrive on Wakanda, because they’ll likely assume the rest of the MCU is as well-developed as the nation they’ve just stumbled across. In reality, Wakanda is probably the most technologically-advanced nation in the MCU, which means the country stands out from the rest. The question, though, is what Wakanda will do now the stakes are so high – especially under the confident and combative leadership of M’Baku.

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