Black Panther: Wakanda Forever featured only one additional scene after the movie ended. It was also unlike the kind we’ve come to expect during the final moments of an MCU movie. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever‘s single mid-credits scene wasn’t funny, nor did it hint at future entries to come. It didn’t even take place at a future date. Wakanda Forever‘s last scene was an emotional and unexpected moment that ensured an important legacy will live on in the franchise. And it did so in a way that speaks to the pasts of Haiti, Wakanda, and Marvel Comics, all while raising an interesting question that could one day impact the entire franchise.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever‘s Mid-Credits Scene Brings Us T’Challa’s Son
Wakanda’s new Black Panther, Shuri, ended the film by taking up Nakia’s offer to come to Haiti. There Shuri burned the clothes she wore at her brother and mother’s funerals, a sign she’s ready to accept their deaths and move on. It was a powerful way to end a story of grief and loss. But the emotional weight of that moment didn’t end with the film.
In an atypical move, Wakanda Forever‘s only scene to take place during or after the credits rejoined Shuri along that shore. That’s when Nakia finally explained the real reason she did not attend the funeral of the person who was “everything” to her. Nakia and T’Challa had a son six years earlier. T’Challa’s son is known as Toussaint in Haiti, but his real name is also T’Challa. His parents decided it would be best for their child to be raised away from the stress and responsibility of Wakanda. In the Black Panther mid-credits scene, we learn that to protect him, Nakia and T’Challa kept their son’s true identity a secret from almost everyone, even his aunt. (Though his grandmother Queen Ramonda met her grandson before her death.)
While T’Challa’s son’s secret name honors his late father, the one he uses in Haiti, Toussaint, pays tribute to that country.
Why the Name Toussaint Means So Much to Haiti
The first name given to T’Challa’s son in the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever mid-credits scenes is a powerful one. Toussaint is more than just an important or notable name in Haiti. It’s the name of one the country’s greatest heroes. François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture was born a slave and remained one for half his life. But he rose to become a general in Haiti’s Revolution. He came “ to lead the most successful slave revolt in history—and help precipitate the downfall of European colonialism in the western hemisphere.”
He died in a French prison one year before Saint-Domingue gained its independence and renamed itself Haiti in 1804. But his heroism and leadership made him a legend in the country. More from History.com:
He was a singular leader who helped charter a revolution extraordinary in its insistence that any declaration of “inalienable liberties” rings hollow when constrained by notions of color or creed. His was a revolution that carried far wider geopolitical implications: Historians credit it with spooking France from further colonial endeavors in the hemisphere and inspiring Napoleon to offload the Louisiana territory to the United States, effectively doubling the young republic in size.
It’s easy to see why Nakia and T’Challa chose the Haitian name Toussaint for their son. It’s a name even Killmonger would have approved of. But beyond what it means to Haitians and those who stood up to slave owners and their oppressive regimes in the real world, it also has ties to their child’s fictional homeland.
How the Name Toussaint Connects to Wakanda
The name Toussaint translates in French to “all souls.” Haitians also celebrate All Souls Day every November 1st and 2nd. On those sacred days, people visit cemeteries to bring their deceased loved ones food, dark rum, and candles “ to commemorate the country’s Vodou Festival of the Dead Fête Guédé.” And Port-au-Prince’s national cemetery is where priests and priestesses gather at the city’s oldest grave dressed in all white.
Considering Wakandans views on the afterlife, the Ancestral Plane, and how (as Queen Ramonda said) their relatives are never truly gone, it’s easy to see why the name Toussaint also became a fitting one for Nakia and T’Challa’s son. He is a living reminder of his own father’s legacy.
Of course, this is the MCU we’re talking about. And considering what this movie revealed about how Namor got his powers, the revelation in Wakanda Forever mid-credits scene about young T’Challa raises an obvious question: did he inherit his father’s powers?
Does Young T’Challa Have His Father’s Powers in Wakanda Forever‘s Mid-Credits Scene?
Namor genetically inherited the powers his mother gained from eating a special plant grown from vibranium-rich soil. Black Panthers gain their power from ingesting the Heart-Shaped Herb. But we don’t know if King T’Chaka had consumed the flower before siring his children. It’s unclear in the MCU if a Black Panther can pass on their superpowers to their progeny.
So is young T’Challa like Namor? Or is he just a regular kid? It’s hard to tell from Wakanda Forever‘s mid-credits scene. But the answer might come from Marvel Comics, even though T’Challa’s son on the page had a different mother.
Does T’Challa Have a Son in Marvel Comics?
T’Challa has a son in Marvel Comics on Earth-555326, but the child is known as Azari. And his mother is not Nakia, but rather Storm of the X-Men. But if the MCU’s Toussaint is anything like Azari, he will inherit his father’s powers bestowed by the Heart-Shaped Herb. That’s what happened to Azari in Marvel Comics, where he was also born with his mutant mother’s powers.
On Earth-555326 Azari fights with that dimension’s remaining Avengers to defeat Ultron. Could Marvel’s young T’Challa do something similar in the MCU’s Earth-616 someday? Could he be a Young Avenger in the near future?
We don’t know the answer to that question and might not for a very long time. But it doesn’t matter either. What matters is that the MCU honored its fallen king in a way that ensures both his name and his legacy will live on.
Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on Twitter at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.