WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for Marvel’s Black Panther, in theaters now.


Marvel's Black Panther gains his enhanced physical abilities not from a scientific experiment gone wrong or from an accident of birth, but rather from a mystical Heart-Shaped Herb that grows only in Wakanda. Of course, your first question is likely to be, what makes this herb so special that it can grant its users special powers? The answer is provided in the opening sequence of director Ryan Coogler's film, which recounts the history of Wakanda, and the Vibranium meteorite that crashed there. This indestructible rock bonds with the country's landscape, and begins to transform the properties of the Heart-Shaped Herb to the point that consuming it grants a person augmented strength, speed, endurance and senses.

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The lineage of the Black Panther consists of each king using the herb to protect Wakanda's borders from any danger that might threaten his people. With the murder of T'Chaka in 2016's Captain America: Civil War, the title of king and Black Panther now rests with his son T'Challa, played by Chadwick Boseman. But before T'Challa can be named king, he must first battle any challengers to the throne in combat. The only person to step up is M'Baku (Winston Duke) of the mountain Ape Tribe, but T'Challa emerges victorious. He's then given the Heart-Shaped Herb by his loyal aide Zuri (Forest Whitaker) during a ritual that takes place in the herb's garden.

The world of Wakanda, however, was shaken to its core with the arrival of Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan). T'Chaka's nephew and T'Challa's first cousin, Killmonger stormed the nation's borders with the corpse of Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis), enemy number one to Wakanda for stealing Vibranium decades ago. Being a blood relative, Killmonger demands to fight T'Challa for leadership. He ultimately wins, and cements his victory by tossing T'Challa off a cliff, where it appears he falls to his death.

Now in control of Wakanda, one of Killmonger's first orders is to burn the garden of the Heart-Shaped Herb. The ramifications of this act are huge: It essentially means any future Black Panthers will be powerless, as there won't be an herb to imbue them with special abilities. Luckily, Nakia (Lupita Nyong'o) is able to steal one Heart-Shaped Herb, which is later used to heal T'Challa, left in a coma following his fight with Killmonger. But the garden is still destroyed, greatly impacting the legacy of the Black Panther.

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The Marvel Cinematic Universe hasn't been afraid to drastically alter the status quo of some of its most beloved characters. For example, Asgard is no more after the events of Thor: Ragnarok, and the Avengers are splintered following Civil War. For now, Black Panther can add the Heart-Shaped Herb to that esteemed list.

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Things may seem dire, but all hope is not lost. Just because the herb is gone now doesn't mean any won't be found in the future. Black Panther only showed viewers a small part of Wakanda. There may be unexplored sections where the Heart-Shaped Herb yet grows.

We also must remember that Wakanda is home to some of the most intelligent scientists on the planet. As Vibranium originally gave the Heart-Shaped Herb its abilities, who's to say the metal can't be experimented with to still offer that Black Panther upgrade? T'Challa's sister Shuri is the perfect candidate to begin this type of testing; she developed the enhancements to the Black Panther armor, and used Wakanda's resources to heal Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) from a seemingly mortal gunshot wound.

Letitia Wright as Shuri in Black Panther movie

Black Panther's mid-credits scene saw T'Challa give a speech to the United Nations, in which he vows Wakanda will no longer hide, but instead will offer help to those in need. We're to assume Wakanda's stock of Vibranium is one way T'Challa plans to help, but we'll never know if the Heart-Shaped Herb would have been on the table as well.

Lastly, we must remember it's not special powers that make the Black Panther who he is. The hero can still be a role model and leader, with or without the herb. He may not be as strong and fast as Captain America, but that doesn't mean a Black Panther can't train his body to be in prime fighting shape. Also, Black Panther still has the best armor in the MCU, beating out the likes of Iron Man.

RELATED: What Is Black Panther's Heart-Shaped Herb?

The legacy of the Black Panther doesn't hinge on the vitality of a plant. Even after T'Challa is gone, Wakanda will always have a Black Panther as its king. The only major drawback is the Heart-Shaped Herb's ability to let its user commune with the deceased on the Astral Plane. But as advanced as the African nation is, we shouldn't put it past them to find a workaround for that as well.


In theaters now, director Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther stars Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa, Michael B. Jordan as Erik Killmonger, Lupita Nyong’o as Nakia, Daniel Kaluuya as W’Kabi, Letitia Wright as Shuri, Danai Gurira as Okoye, Angela Bassett as Ramonda, Martin Freeman as Everett K. Ross, Andy Serkis as Ulysses Klaue, Winston Duke as M’Baku and Forest Whitaker as Zuri.