Wakanda Forever Failed to Address What Effectively Became a Glaring Plot Hole
Although Black Panther: Wakanda Forever received mostly positive reviews from audiences, there's one major plot hole that MCU fans can't get over.
Wakanda Forever is the second installment in the Black Panther franchise, and a direct continuation of 2018's Black Panther. Much has changed since the first film. King T'Challa died of an unexplained illness, and the characters try to come to terms with his death while facing a new enemy, Namor, the leader of an underwater kingdom called Talokan.
Although the majority of fans loved the movie and how it paid tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman, some viewers couldn't get over some plot inconsistencies.
The main concern of fans was how Wakanda Forever ties into the events of Avengers: Infinity War.
At the end of Infinity War, Thanos snapped his fingers, wiping out half of all life in the universe. This terrifying event was called the Blip. Five years later, in Avengers: Endgame, the superheroes managed to undo Thanos' snap and resurrect everyone, but the Blip had serious consequences for the MCU.
Every Phase 4 movie and series deals with the five-year period when people were missing from the MCU in one way or another. However, Wakanda Forever seems to ignore the event. Viewers know that both T'Challa and Shuri were missing, but no details are offered.
Many fans noted that Wakanda seemed unaffected by the blip. It remains unclear what the Wakandan people were doing during the Blip, who was ruling them, or why they are trying to fill the role of Black Panther now, many years after T'Challa was blipped.
"Who was the protector of Wakanda during the Blip? Was it a joint effort by the tribes? Was Killmonger resurrected out of urgency? Was a singular person appointed with Black Panther duties?" one of the fans asked on Reddit, but their questions remain unanswered by Wakanda Forever.
Other fans have their doubts about Namor and Talokan. The threat of the underwater kingdom being discovered seems like a much weaker reason to surface than the blip that wiped out half the Talokan population.
"I would think Namor's immediate assumption would be that the Blip was an attack from the surface world on his people," one of the fans explained, but viewers never learn how Namor reacted to the Blip.
All in all, many fans agree that this plot hole could be avoided if Wakanda Forever took place during the Blip.