The Massachusetts Medievalist on Wakanda's Mythology and History
As with most pop culture, the Massachusetts Medievalist is a little late to the Wakanda Forever party. I found the 2022 sequel to 2018's Black Panther enormously satisfying in many ways but want to focus here on two specific tropes that place WF very firmly in traditional mythological and historical narrative: the hidden child-hero and the female regent.
The hidden child-hero is revealed mid-credits at the end of Wakanda Forever, when Shuri travels to Haiti to visit Nakia and discovers that Nakia is raising the son she had with T'Challa. No one else knows that the boy is T'Challa's son. He is introduced to his aunt as Toussaint but he also reveals that his Wakandan name is T'Challa: he is thus named after both the historical Toussaint Louverture (the leader of the 1791-1804 Haitian Revolution) and his fictional father King T'Challa. We can presume that he will stay in Haiti with his mother, safe from enemies like the underwater kingdom of Talokan and various vibranium-greedy gangsters and governments. We can also presume that the Marvel universe will fast-forward time and give us a new Black Panther movie featuring a young adult Toussaint/T'Challa.
Toussaint/T'Challa is one in a long line of male heroes who are hidden until they are strong enough to embark upon their own hero's journey. In traditional Greek mythology, Perseus is raised by the fisherman Dictys until he is old enough to embark on his quest to kill Medusa; some versions of the Heracles narrative tell of a part of his childhood spent hidden from the wrath of Hera. The wizard Merlin hides baby Arthur with the genial Sir Ector until Arthur can draw the sword from the stone and assume his place as King. Our modern mythologies provide Luke Skywalker, tucked away on Uncle Owen's farm until his inner Jedi awakes, and Harry Potter, protected in his Aunt's house until he is old enough to attend Hogwarts.
Since we know that Toussaint/T'Challa will become the next Black Panther, we can discern another familiar narrative trope in play at the end of Wakanda Forever: the female relative as regent. More historical than mythological, this familiar structure presents us with a strong woman who can provide the leadership and heroism necessary in the moment – but in a culture that will not accept a woman as THE leader or hero.
Medieval Europe is littered with Queens Regent, so just one example will have to suffice here. Blanche of Castile (1188-1252) wielded political and military power in her role as Dauphine, then Queen, then Queen Regent of France. After her husband died only three years into his reign, she ruled the kingdom in the interest of their 12-year-old son Louis IX, known to history as "Saint Louis." When the adult Louis travelled to the Middle East as part of the disastrous Seventh Crusade, she again governed the country for him, sending troops, treasure, supplies, and eventually ransom to release her son held captive in Egypt. And Blanche is typical – a google search for "medieval queens regent" produces a very deep rabbit hole full of smart, capable, formidable women wielding power in their sons’ names.
Shuri's meeting with her nephew at the end of Wakanda Forever thus combines these two motifs, defining her as a good-enough hero for the short term, something of a Black Panther Regent while we wait for the "real" hero – the male hero hidden as a child – to literally grow into his role. Since the Black Panther franchise, like all superhero narratives, must follow the conventions of the genre, those of us rooting for a permanently-installed female Black Panther will inevitably be disappointed. Shuri will return to her lab as Wakanda's master engineer, an inspiring role which defies myriad gender stereotypes — but is also a traditional female role of support staff to the male lead.