Well, that’s a wrap for Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Okay, they still have the entire Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special coming up. But, when it comes to theatrical releases, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, is supposed to be the exclamation point to the entire Phase 4. Just like my review for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Marvel’s entire Phase 4 has been just okay and never reaching the highs of the previous ones.

But, like with other superhero movies, I just can’t help but notice a few things while I did watch Wakanda Forever. These might not necessarily be plot holes or things that made me break my suspension of disbelief. Rather, these are just the more innocuous things which popped into my head while watching the film.

But before I do start asking these rather inconsequential questions about Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, be warned! I’m going to have to dive right into SPOILERS here. A lot of my questions do need context so I’ll be talking about some plot points and specific scenes. So, if you’re okay with SPOILERS, let’s get to the questions, shall we?

#1 Where did they bring King T’Challa’s coffin?

Just because you can get all fancy, that doesn’t mean you have to use your flying hovercraft for everything, do you?

I’m a little on the fence regarding King T’Challa’s funeral scene. I understand the procession is more like a celebration of his life and not mourning on his death. It just looks a little awkward to see the people of Wakanda dancing and smiling while they carry King T’Challa’s coffin through the city streets. What also irked me is how, even though the procession is super down to earth, the way they handle the transport of King T’Challa’s body afterwards is super high-tech as they basically tractor beam his coffin into a flying ship to be whisked away… where again?

I really gotta ask, where did they bring King T’Challa’s body? It seems so weird for the Wakandans to whisk their former king’s body away like that. I guess it would make sense if they were going to bury his body atop some far away mountain or… I dunno. Shoot it into space or something dramatic like that? But as of right now, we don’t really know what they did with his body! I mean, I expected it to be buried in the fields of Wakanda or near the water where Queen Ramonda and Shuri did the ritual burning of the robes. But sucked into a spaceship wasn’t where I thought they were going.

Speaking of Queen Ramonda and Shuri’s ritual…

#2 What happened to Namor’s “contact” shell?

It’s an ancient communications device!

During the scene where Namor make his introduction to Queen Ramonda and Shuri to form an alliance, he’s is first enamored by how untouched Wakanda is. Afterwards, he does make his ultimatum to them, stating that they need to capture the scientist who made the vibranium tracker so he can kill that person. Before he leaves, Namor gives them a shell to blow into to contact him when the deed is done.

What did they do with the shell?

I know it seems like a weird thing to ask but, then again, this is all about asking inconsequential questions about Wakanda Forever, right? But I honestly thought the shell would be important in the film. I thought they were setting it up for Shuri to call Namor during the final battle or something like that. Instead, they totally forgot the shell exists. Maybe it’ll pop up in the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe when Shuri does need the help of the Tacolans or something to that degree. But for now, it’s like they forgot it was even written in the film. Haven’t they heard of Chekov’s Gun?

Speaking of the scientist who Namor was looking for…

#3 Why is Riri Williams still in school?

With her being so central to the story, you would think they would make her less annoying.

Look, I’m sorry. I just didn’t like Riri Williams. I said that much in my review of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. So I’m not looking forward to her solo television series in Disney+, Ironheart. I get she’s super smart as she is the only one in the world who was able to create a machine that’s able to locate vibranium. This does make he wonder how Howard Stark, Tony Stark’s father, was able to get enough of the virtually indestructible metal to make Captain America’s shield. Whatever the explanation, it’s there to establish Riri Williams is a genius… who’s still in school?

Why would Riri even bother going to college when she can make phenomenal inventions like the aforementioned vibranium detector and even a makeshift Iron Man suit? It should be obvious by that point she doesn’t need it! They even mentioned the government got the vibranium detector from the school and they know who she is. Why didn’t the government try to recruit her immediately? Even if they did and she didn’t accept, she should be making unthinkable inventions and then putting them on the market to make a mint! Instead, it got to a point where the FBI wanted to capture her as well as the blue skinned Talocan warriors hunting her down. For a smart person, Riri can be an idiot for not inventing something to make her rich.

Speaking of the blue skinned Talocan warriors…

#4 Why are there some blue and some “non-blue” Tacolans?

A little consistency would’ve been appreciated here, Marvel.

During the scene where Shuri is taken to Talocan by Namor, she gets to marvel at the underwater city. She also gets to see Namor as someone who’s not a warmonger who just wants to destroy the surface world. But more of someone who has to do things to defend his land. Shuri even gets a moment with with a couple of Talocan kids. This gives the future ruler of Wakanda a different perspective of who seems to be her adversary. Anyway, the Talocan children caught my eye not because there are kids in the city. After all, this scene is supposed to show that Talocan is like any other city in the world but only underwater. However, what struck me was that the kids were not blue. This was really weird to me because, up to this point, all of the undersea people, besides Namor because he’s special, had blue skin. Yet these kids didn’t have this skin tone.

So I gotta ask, why are some of the Talocans blue while the others don’t?

I don’t think this was a mistake by Marvel or Disney. I believe this was a conscious decision to make these children have light skin. The thing is, I can’t figure out the reason why they did it. Maybe the blue comes out when they get older but, once again, what would be the point to make that distinction? It just looked really weird to me.

Anyway, while were talking about Shuri becoming the ruler of Wakanda…

#5 Did M’Baku become king of Wakanda?

Second time’s the charm?

In the first film, M’Baku makes his dramatic entrance by challenging T’Challa for the throne and the Black Panther title. He loses, of course. Afterwards, he’s pretty much forgotten because M’Baku only appears much later in the first film after Killmonger takes down T’Challa in the same ceremony. But Wakanda Forever does call back to the first scene I mentioned.

During the final moments of the film, it looks like Wakanda is about to crown Shuri as the new leader of the country. After all, she is the new Black Panther. A ship flies down and you expect to see Shuri emerge from it. It’s a fake out as it’s M’Baku who comes out. He tells the crowd that Shuri won’t be coming to the ceremony and he says he’s challenging for the crown.

So, did he become the ruler of Wakanda? I mean, he is challenging for the crown and, since Shuri isn’t there, shouldn’t M’Baku become king by default? I don’t think there are going to be any other challengers, right? Besides, unlike the first Black Panther film, M’Baku has gained the respect of all of the clans in Wakanda. So I don’t think any of them would object to him becoming king, especially since Princess Shuri isn’t there to answer the challenge.

Speaking of Shuri…

BONUS: Can Shuri be called a Disney Princess?

Let’s see now. Marvel is owned by Disney. Disney is known for the Disney Princess franchise of movies. Shuri is technically the princess of Wakanda. So, does that mean Shuri is a Disney Princess?

Just throwing it out there.

Have any other questions that you thought of after watching Black Panther: Wakanda Forever? Let me know what they are in the comments section below!