The following contains spoilers for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, now in theaters.
A plus regarding Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was how Marvel Studios managed to keep most of the plot quiet. Fans knew the film would pivot on the death of King T'Challa, and the royals -- Queen Ramonda and Princess Shuri -- coping with the loss. However, there were still mysteries regarding how Namor and the Talokan empire would come to war with the African nation and who'd replace T'Challa. In addition, no one knew how the teen prodigy from MIT, Riri Williams, would factor into the film and become one of Shuri's most trusted allies. Well, as Riri becomes the catalyst for the feud between these world powers, Wakanda Forever holds a lot in common with Avengers: Infinity War.
Avengers: Infinity War Had a Protector Arc With Vision
Thanos spent quite some time assembling the Infinity Stones, realizing he had to do the job himself. Infinity War culminated with him taking the Time Stone in Titan before coming to Wakanda. He wanted Vision, who had the Mind Stone in his head, but Black Panther, Captain America, Bucky Barnes and many other Avengers battened down the hatches to protect the hero.
Shuri was even working on an extraction that'd keep him alive in the lab, with Scarlet Witch acting as his bodyguard. Unfortunately, their mission was unsuccessful as the Mad Titan proved inevitable. He reversed time, got the stone from Vision and erased half of all reality with his Snap, kickstarting the apocalypse the Wakanda alliance feared would come to pass.
Black Panther 2 Features a Similar Savior Story
In Wakanda Forever, Riri's university work is stolen, which results in Countess Valentina and the CIA creating her vibranium-finding machine. They end up disturbing Namor's underwater kingdom, which angers the Talokan as they think Wakanda caused this by wanting to integrate with the world and share their secrets in the first place. As such, Namor orders Wakanda to bring him the scientist, so he can kill her and keep the Talokan in isolation.
That pushes Shuri and Okoye to get Riri first and bring her back to Wakanda to keep her safe, not wanting innocent blood to be spilled. It remixes how they tried to protect Vision, going on the road to grab her in Boston for her own good. Eventually, they get taken to Namor's kingdom and escape back to Wakanda, which brings the furious Sub-Mariner in. Once more, he wants Riri's head but is satisfied with more of the common folk dying, too.
Namor can't stand how his people perished when Nakia rescued Shuri and Riri, so he drowns many and murders Ramonda in revenge, nodding to how Thanos' Outriders invaded. In the process, Wakanda deals with another tragedy, pushing Shuri to become the new Black Panther. But it also inspires Riri to become Ironheart when Wakanda strikes back because while Vision died and couldn't fight back against Thanos, she can protect the folks who protected her.
To see Riri mirror Vision's story in Infinity War, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is in theaters now.