The Black Panther is already in theaters and audience seems to not getting enough of the superhero action blockbuster. Marvel’s first superhero movie with an African American lead, Black Panther is already shattering records as it dives into the pages of Wakanda and the Black Panther. One of the biggest takeaways from the movie was the relationship between T’Challa and his younger sister Shuri. Shuri, played by Letitia Wright was certainly one of the best characters in the movie. The brother-sister relationship portrayed by her and Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa was awesome as it is the typical way a loving brother and sister behave.
Shuri here was the tech genius who was heading Wakanda’s entire technological innovations and inventions. T’Challa who himself is one of the smartest and the most intellectual brains on the entire planet possesses more hands-on skills of a fighter. Shuri and T’Challa were in friendly competition throughout and Shuri was the one who provided T’Challa and the Wakanadan army to provide all the advanced tech gadgets and suits.
Shuri is said to be even smarter than Tony Stark, as she comes up with a suit that Stark has not even managed to build till now. In the movie, we see that Shuri has built two new Suits for T’Challa to wear in combat, one is the Gold suit which Erik Killmonger ends up wearing later on, and one is the suit which we see T’Challa wear throughout the movie. His old suit is kept in Shuri’s lab for the time being.
The movie, as good as it may be, can never explore Black Panther’s history and the supporting characters to the full extent, given the limited runtime. Fear not, for we will help you. Here are 15 things about her that you probably never knew….
15. She led Wakanda to a war with Atlantis
After refusing Namor to stay in Atlantis and later Namor’s attack on Wakanda, Shuri decided to take matters into her own hands. She led the Wakandan warriors on an all-out assault on Namor’s homeland of Atlantis in an all-out assault. The Wakandan troops were so well trained that Atlantis was almost wiped out.
14. The Panther God rejected her
The Panther God must give his consent before a person dons the Black Panther suit in Wakanda. T’Challa was given permission, Shuri wasn’t. The Panther God thought Shuri was too arrogant and jealous to become Wakanda’s protector. She proved him wrong when she became the Black Panther anyway when T’Challa became sick.
13. She reprogrammed Bucky Barnes
Bucky Barnes was a normal guy until Hydra and the Soviets did nasty stuff to his brain, making him an involuntary sleeper cell, if you know just the right words. After Civil War, Shuri is tasked with curing Bucky of his brainwashing. She does by creating an artificial replica of Bucky’s Brain and running countless simulations on it to find a cure.
12. She can shape-shift
After the Cabal almost kills her, Shuri is left in a catatonic state while her soul visits the Wakandan spirit world called Djalia. There she learns new tips and tricks from her Wakandan ancestors. After returning back to the real world, Shuri could turn her body into a flock of birds or to literal stone.
11. She is Illuminati
The Illuminati is made up of the smartest and most influential people on Earth, who perform actions and deeds that will secretly help the world survive in the long run. Professor X, Black Bolt, Captain America, Doctor Strange Namor and T’Challa have all been members. In a universe designated Earth-23099, Shuri is also among them.
10. She sacrificed herself to save her brother
In the ‘Time Runs Out’ story arc, Wakanda is almost annihilated by an attack from the Cabal. Many Wakandan cities now lie in ruins. Shuri and T’Challa are on a desperate last-ditch quest to save their people when they are met by Proxima Midnight. Shuri fights Proxima on her own, urging her brother to go away. She is later encased in amber, a state of living death.
9. She killed Radioactive Man
After T’Challa assumes the mantle of the Black Panther, Wakanda is soon attacked by a group of mercenaries led by Klaw, the guy who killed T’Chakka, the previous Black Panther and T’Challa and Shuri’s father. Radioactive man, who was also among them, attacks Shuri but is killed when she runs the mystical Ebony Blade through his body.
8. She wants to become Black Panther
The title of Black Panther is given to the one who passes through many rituals, one such ritual being the Trial by Combat. Any guy who wants to become the Black Panther must defeat the current one in one on one combat. T’Challa’s uncle S’Yan was defeated by the former and he later became the Black Panther. Shuri wants the same.
7. She banished T’Challa from Wakanda’s Capital
After the Cabal led by Namor almost destroys Wakanda, Shuri becomes the new Black Panther, a title she shares with her brother. When Shuri finds out that Namor is still in contact with T’Challa, she forbids T’Challa from entering the Wakandan Capital of Golden City, branding her own brother as a traitor.
6. She debuted in 2005
Shuri is a fairly new character to the Marvel universe, revealed to the masses in the comic book pages only 40 years after his brother graced Marvel Comics. Shuri is shown to be fiercely loyal and intelligent. She laters grows as a character to become what she is today.
5. She is Ramonda’s daughter
It might come as a shock but Ramonda is not T’Challa’s birth mother. That honor goes to N’Yami. Ramonda was kidnapped by a group of South African mercenaries who tortured her. Shuri was born during that time frame. T’Challa was raised by T’Chaka and S’Yan during the years Ramonda was away.
4. She refused the King of Atlantis when he came looking for refuge
Might sound a bit extreme but it is the right thing to do. Namor doesn’t play well with others and is always looking for a way to hurt his enemies without the slightest damage to his own kingdom of Atlantis. When Namor asked Shuri, the then ruler of Wakanda, for refuge, he was asking for an overseas base of operations. Shuri refused.
3. She leads the Wakandan School for alternative studies
This school is similar to Professor X’s Xavier School of Gifted Youngsters. Wakanda also has its own share of ‘Specials’ – people with superhuman abilities. Shuri leads the initiative to teach these kids how to control their powers t save innocent lives. In a few years’ time, Shuri will be giving Professor X a run for his money.
2. She took down Doctor Doom’s Network
When Shuri realized that Doctor Doom had been using special nanites to control not only several high ranking Wakandans to get a hold of the country’s precious vibranium deposits but also several other influential people worldwide, Shuri and T’Challa decided to recruit their own allies for the upcoming battle. Doom was soundly defeated.
1. She is smarter than both Tony Stark and Bruce Banner combined
To say Shuri is smart would be the understatement of the Century. Tony Stark and Bruce Banner are geniuses in the scientific field but it is the teenage Shuri that has managed to outsmart them with her own mastery of matters of the mind. Shuri has been revealed to be smarter than both Stark and Banner, her genius-level intellect being the reason for the Black Panther suit coming to fruition and Bucky Barnes being cured of his brainwashing (something nobody else in the Marvel Universe could do). Take that, White Supremacists!!!!
The movie was a cultural masterpiece made by Director Ryan Coogler who has nailed the movie on all fronts. He was the first Black man to have ever been at the helm of a major Marvel movie and he proved that the African American community is incredibly talented and vibrant whether it’s onscreen or offscreen. The movie had the right amount of Drama, Humour, and Action and it was thrilling in every way. It was packed with many new things on its plate and teased a lot of things for the future of Black Panther in MCU.
Black Panther is running successfully in the theatres near you. Go check it out.
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