Here's Where Wakanda Forever Fits Into the MCU Timeline
We're a week away from the release of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the sequel to the 2018 Oscar-nominated Black Panther. Ryan Coogler is returning to direct without star Chadwick Boseman, who tragically died in 2020. The movie will follow Wakanda reeling from its leader's death as a new threat rises.
This marks the end of MCU 's Phase 4 – that part is confirmed. Producer Nate Moore talked to CinemaBlend to discuss where exactly the film sits in the MCU timeline. The past several movies have been happening somewhat simultaneously, with few in-film references to give viewers a cohesive, confirmed timeline.
Moore said that it "clearly happens" after No Way Home and Eternals, happening at the same time as Thor: Love and Thunder and the upcoming Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. He hinted that New Asgard will be mentioned in the dialogue and that it certainly exists in the film's universe.
One of the struggles of Phase 4 is that it hasn't had a single cohesive story between films outside of Scarlet Witch and Dr. Strange's meeting in Multiverse of Madness. After the last several movies of the Infinity Saga (Phases 1 through 3) had consistent references to concurrent films, the Multiverse Saga (Phase 4 through the upcoming two phases) has not.
Because of that, fans complain that there's been a lot of time spent on new characters without references to the beloved established characters post-Endgame. Logistically, that means it's been hard to uncover the set timeline.
Things happen across the planet (and sometimes, in different galaxies) at the same time, so viewers don't know how they tie together or when they happen. Moore's explanation was fairly vague, but it still helps us understand the cohesiveness of the projects.
Wakanda Forever comes on the heels of Thor: Love and Thunder, which told the stories of both Thor and the Guardians of the Galaxy directly following Avengers: Endgame. The next film is Ant-Man: Quantumania which, according to the trailers, seems to be an epic story that directly sets up the future of the MCU and may shed some light on the timeline of previous films. And Wakanda Forever appears to be a more self-contained story, just giving viewers a taste of what's happened in Wakanda post-blip and introducing a new Black Panther after Boseman's death.
Another problem fans have had with Phase 4 is that the stakes are constantly so high, which dilutes the excitement for every new "Avengers-level threat." Wakanda Forever seems to not follow that trend, telling an emotion-driven story about Wakandans coping with T'challa's death.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever releases in theaters on November 11.