'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' has a clever callback to 'Captain America: Civil War' you may have missed
- Warning: There are spoilers ahead for "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever."
- Near the film's end, Shuri's confrontation with Namor ends with her giving a speech about vengeance.
"Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" contains many great callbacks to other Marvel movies you may miss during a first watch. One of the best comes near the end, linking Shuri (Letitia Wright) directly to her big brother, T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman).
As Shuri and Namor's (Tenoch Huerta) fight comes to a head, Shuri needs to decide whether or not she'll allow her desire to avenge the murder of her mother to consume her. Shuri can either kill Namor, drawing the wrath of his people, or show him mercy.
Ultimately, Shuri asks Namor to yield to her. She offers to spare his life in exchange for his allyship, telling the Talokanil leader: "Vengeance has consumed us. We cannot let it consume our people."
If that line sounded familiar, it's because we've heard a version of it before in a very similar scenario in "Captain America: Civil War." Shuri's speech about vengeance directly channels T'Challa's speech to Zemo during a pivotal moment in the 2016 movie.
T'Challa and Shuri both went after their parents' killers, seeking vengeance before choosing a different way forward
As a reminder, T'Challa sought revenge on Zemo (Daniel Brühl) for the death of his and Shuri's father, T'Chaka (John Kani) who was killed during a terrorist attack at the film's start.
When he finally confronts Zemo, T'Challa learns that Zemo was trying to get the Avengers to kill each other. Zemo held them responsible for the death of his whole family after they destroyed Sokovia in "Avengers: Age of Ultron."
T'Chaka was never his target. T'Challa's father got caught in the crosshairs of Zemo's own act of retaliation.
Realizing that killing Zemo would only lead to more violence, T'Challa decides to break the cycle. He tells the broken man: "Vengeance has consumed you. It's consuming them. I'm done letting it consume me."
Both Shuri and T'Challa went after characters who murdered their parents with the intent to kill them out of vengeance. Both ended up sparing their lives when they realized vengeance wasn't the answer.
"Wakanda Forever" is in theaters now. You can read our review here.