Ryan Coogler's 2018 "Black Panther," starring Chadwick Boseman as King T'Challa, collected $1.3 billion and the Marvel Cinematic Universe's first best picture Oscar nomination. It was a bona fide cultural phenomenon. Two years later, the 43-year-old Boseman died unexpectedly of colon cancer. When the smoke cleared and the tears dried, Marvel decided not to recast T'Challa, that Boseman's take on the role was too indelible, too beloved.
Enter Shuri.
Guyanese-British actress Letitia Wright had made a splash as T'Challa's brilliant sister with the spicy attitude (perhaps the smartest character in the MCU) in three films. In the comics, Shuri eventually shared the Panther mantle — ironically, due to T'Challa's serious illness — so the notion of her ascension wasn't entirely alien. It just wasn't supposed to happen yet.
