Black Panther was a mega super colossal hit…and every other adjective you can use to define a 200+ million dollar box office get in its first four days at the box office. The film broke down barriers, expectations, and stereotypes, and that’ll no doubt add to the superhero films that come out in the future, regardless of brand. However, that doesn’t mean that the film didn’t have questions from fans. For as great as the film was, there some oddities that viewers pointed out, one of which stemmed from the end credits sequence.
While the first end credits sequence featured T’Challa making a beautiful (and politically relevant) speech at the U.N., the second scene featured the return of Bucky Barnes, who has been dethawed and freed of the mind control that Hydra put in him. But it raises the question, if he was available, meaning free of cryo, why didn’t Shuri or T’Challa ask for his help to take down Kilmonger?
Well, Ryan Coogler answered this to Empire in their podcast. Stating:
“The last thing he would need to do is jump into that Civil War, and so that was kind of the thought process there,” Coogler explained. “And it could be potentially problematic if it’s a bunch of Africans fighting and you bring in a white dude, he comes in shootin’ people (laughs). We were aware of that. Bucky’s not trained to neutralize people peacefully, he’s an assassin.”
Coogler also noted that Bucky needs a bit of a spiritual retreat after the events of Civil War, and both T’Challa and Shuri would honor that. But don’t worry, he’ll help out both Black Panther and the Avengers when Infinity War arrives.
