Movies - TV
With Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, The MCU Is Moving On From The Blip
By TYLER LLEWYN TAING
Spoiler Warning!
This story contains spoilers for "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever."
With "Wakanda Forever," audiences witness a growing pain with lots of precedence in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as there is not a single verbal reference to the Blip. This represents a tough issue a lot of MCU projects have to contend with, debating whether to invest emotionally in the lore of this expanded universe, or to disconnect from the wider world.
Though "Wakanda Forever" doesn't explicitly namedrop the Blip, the mid-credits scene does speak to its impact when Nakia introduces Shuri to her son, Toussaint, whom she secretly had with T'Challa before he passed. Since he is about six years old, he's implied to have grown up during the five-year time jump between the Snap and the Blip.
It would have been nice to have official confirmation of how this works out timeline-wise, but it's ultimately fine that Ryan Coogler's movie prioritizes the emotional beats over the logistics of the universe. Although fans may want to see the MCU’s world-building make more of an impact on the drama and characters, it shouldn't be at the detriment of other fulfilling character beats.