Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has arrived in theaters, following up on a four-year wait for the Marvel sequel. The film drew even more attention than a typical Marvel Cinematic Universe release since it also had to build on the legacy of Chadwick Boseman. The actor, who played Black Panther in the 2018 film, died in August 2020 from colon cancer. Just like every MCU movie, Wakanda Forever does have a mid-credits scene, but there is no scene after the final end credits roll.
Spoilers follow! Do not read beyond if you want to be completely surprised by the scene. The movie is now in theaters.
Videos by PopCulture.com
During the course of the movie, fans learn that Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) has been living in Haiti. Although Nakia joined Shuri (Letitia Wright), Okoye (Danai Gurira), and the rest of Wakanda’s army in their fight against Talokan warriors, Nakia went back to Haiti following the victory. After the initial credits, we see Shuri burning her funeral ceremonial robe like her mother Ramonda (Angela Bassett) wanted her to.
The burning of the robes shows Shuri learning to embrace her grief rather than running from it, and it would be a perfect end to the story. However, it would not leave the same hint at future events we come to expect from MCU mid-credits scenes. Nakia arrives on camera to introduce Shuri to Toussaint, her son with T’Challa, whom she has been raising far from Wakanda so he does not face the added pressures of the throne. Nakia also reveals that Toussaint’s Wakandan name is T’Challa.
Once this scene wraps, that is it. You can stick around to watch the names of everyone who worked on the film go by on the screen, or begin heading home. Producer Nate Moore confirmed to ComicBook.com before the movie opened that there was no second scene after the end credits.
“Not this time, you know, obviously the way that this movie is a bit different and the tone of this movie is a bit different and it felt especially, once people see the film, we felt the ending was so kind of poetic, to then go back and say, ‘Hey there’s a tag at the end credits’ felt a little disingenuous tonally from what we were doing,” Moore said. “Much like Endgame didn’t have a tag, this didn’t feel like a movie that needed it.”
The end credits also include “Lift Me Up,” Rihanna’s first solo single since she released the 2016 album ANTI. Rihanna co-wrote the song with Wakanda Forever director Ryan Coogler, composer Ludwig Göransson, and singer Tems.
“After speaking with Ryan and hearing his direction for the film and the song, I wanted to write something that portrays a warm embrace from all the people that I’ve lost in my life. I tried to imagine what it would feel like if I could sing to them now and express how much I miss them,” Tems said in a press release. “Rihanna has been an inspiration to me so hearing her convey this song is a great honor.”
