Wakanda Forever's Mid-Credits Scene Reveals A Very Different Origin For T'Challa's Son
Contains spoilers for "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever"
It's virtually guaranteed that if you're a superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, your family is full of tragedy — at least, unless you're called Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner). Even with the stiff competition from folks like Thor Odinson (Chris Hemsworth) and Peter Parker (Tom Holland), it's hard to point out a super-family with more ongoing drama than the Wakandan royalty. In "Captain America: Civil War," King T'Chaka (John Kani) dies, leaving his distraught son T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman) seeking vengeance. In "Black Panther," we find out that young T'Chaka killed his exiled criminal brother N'Jobu (Sterling K. Brown), which sends the latter's son N'Jadaka (Michael B. Jordan) on a path that turns him into Killmonger, the movie's main antagonist.
"Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" doubles down on the tragedy trend, as both T'Challa and Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett) die during the events of the movie. For a while, it seems that T'Challa's younger sister Shuri (Letitia Wright) is the only remaining member of her family. However, the movie's mid-credits scene reveals that T'Challa actually had a son with Nakia (Lupita Nyong'o). As the latter introduces Shuri to young Toussaint (Divine Love Konadu-Sun) and it turns out that his Wakandan name is also T'Challa, it seems clear that the child may very well become a huge part of the MCU a few years down the line. Still, fans who are familiar with the character's history in the comics might already have noticed that the origin of the character's MCU version is quite different from T'Challa's son in the comics.
T'Challa's son has a different mother in the comics
In the comics, Toussaint's full name is Azari T'Challa, and he's the son of T'Challa and prominent X-Man Ororo "Storm" Munroe. This version of the character is a teenage mutant who's inherited both his father's Black Panther powers and the lightning part of his mother's weather manipulation abilities, which makes him a formidable figure among the next generation of superhumans.
This, of course, is a significantly different origin story from the one "Wakanda Forever's" Toussaint gets. For one, he's still just a small child. While it's clear that he's inherited his father's dry wit, it's still unknown how he ends up fitting in the MCU once he grows up a bit. It also seems unlikely that he's inherited any superpowers, since Nakia has none that we know of, and the movies establish that the Black Panther powers can only be acquired by ingesting the Heart-Shaped Herb. Regardless of how the character's life will turn out, it's already pretty clear that his family history is very different from that of his comic book counterpart ... at least, unless the MCU indulges in some pretty heavy retconning once the X-Men eventually debut.
A necessary change in the family tree
Though messing with the characters' background in live action adaptations might annoy the occasional fan, it's understandable that the MCU chooses to play fast and loose with T'Challa's son's family tree. Since Storm hasn't been officially introduced in the MCU, and "Black Panther" star Chadwick Boseman's death in 2020 ended King T'Challa's story, there's no way for the two to meet — let alone start a family. Meanwhile, Nakia is T'Challa's former lover (and obviously ongoing romantic interest) in "Black Panther," and her lengthy absence from the MCU after the movie is easily explained by the fact that she's been in Haiti, keeping the heir to Wakanda's throne safe from the pressures of the court.
What's more, it seems pretty instrumental to introduce Toussaint-slash-T'Challa at this exact point in the MCU timeline. Not only does his existence strongly hint that the Black Panther's legacy will continue even after Shuri, but it also works wonders for the current Black Panther. After all, Shuri's lost all the family members that she knew of in relatively rapid succession, and is just starting to deal with her grief and trauma by the time "Wakanda Forever" ends. The mid-credit scene's revelation that she's not the last living member of her family will likely help her greatly.
"Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" is now in theaters.