How’s it going guys and geeks, welcome to Geekritique. While this isn’t our official ‘When Does Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Take Place’ video, I wanted to share my initial thoughts on the sequel’s timeline placement. It’s definitely a tough one, and everyone seems to have some idea as to where it occurs, but it’s terribly difficult to pin down conclusively. I’ll be sharing my official frame-by-frame timeline breakdown when I get my hands on a digital copy of the film in a few months, so if that’s something that interests you, please like this video and subscribe so you don’t miss it.

I just want to preemptively say that I loved the way this film handled the death of Chadwick Boseman. I thought it was probably the most tasteful way they could have gone forward. While my discussion today may seem callous to some, as I use T’Challa’s death as a marker for time, please don’t confuse my analysis for any lack of real-world empathy. I cried like a baby the first time I watched this. Speaking of which, I chose to go see it a second time so that I could bring my notebook, and I jotted down some timeline related quotes or notes exactly as they occur in the film. So beware of spoilers from this point on.

The film has two very specific markers we need to abide by to place it on our timeline. The first being that it needs to be exactly one year after the death of T’Challa, and six years since Nakia left Wakanda. The film appears to take place in either Spring or Summer, at least from what we can see from the scenes in Cambridge, Massachusetts. But beyond these few indicators, I didn’t immediately notice any dates or time periods we can pinpoint the film to. So let’s start with T’Challa’s death.

We know he had to have died sometime after October 2023, the date everyone was brought back from the Blip. This means that at the very earliest, the film has to be after October 2024. We know he lived for some time after the Blip, as he and his country celebrated the return of those blipped at the end of Endgame. That being said, I don’t think it’s possible for the film to occur any earlier than November 2024, because early on in the film Queen Ramonda claims “one year ago, today,” T’Challa died. That’s an exact time frame.

Then we have the issue of Nakia’s requisite timeframe of being away roughly 6 years. Ramonda claims “It’s been six years since you left us.” 6 years before November 2024 brings us to November 2018, around half a year after Thanos’ attack on Wakanda. But this gets tricky when we take into account her conversation with Okoye. Okoye says, “after Thanos’s attack, when you left without saying a word.” Thanos attacked sometime in Spring 2018, so that would be 6 and a half years, which does fall under that 6 year time bracket we need to abide by. The 6 years line is an inexact time frame.

So does Black Panther: Wakanda Forever take place in November 2024? As we mentioned before, that’s the earliest we think it’s possible the film could occur. But I don’t think this film occurs in 2024 at all. We know after T’Challa came back from the blip he must have spent some significant time with Nakia and his young son, enough for the boy to have fond memories of his father. I’d like to hope T’Challa had at least a few months where he was able to spend time on and off with his family in Haiti, before his death. And considering it appears to be Spring or Summer in Massachusetts, I’m going to guesstimate that he died in Spring 2024, and that this film best fits in Spring 2025, one year later.

Now, subtracting 6 years from Spring 2025 brings us to Spring 2019, a whole year after Thanos attack in Avengers: Infinity War. Does this still work? Well let’s take a look at Okoye’s quote again. She doesn’t claim that Nakia left when Thanos attacked, she says “after Thanos’s attack.” The years after Infinity War were traumatic for everyone, but likely more so for the people of Wakanda, who hadn’t had anyone attack their borders like that in recent memory. Just as many in the early 2000s marked time differently after the Towers fell, it’s likely Thanos attack is simply a time period people use to delineate that era. After Thanos attacked could be anytime within those 5 years, feasibly. So hypothetically if Nakia did leave Wakanda in Spring 2019, that’s still after Thanos’ attack.

I believe the only real location for Wakanda Forever to fall is Spring or Summer 2025. I’ll place it tentatively in Spring for now, until I get my hands on a digital copy and present you with my official timeline placement. You won’t want to miss that video, as we’ll dig into the age of T’Challa’s son, how much time passes in-film, the history of the Mayans in the 16th century, and how well Wakanda Forever utilizes that history to create Talokan and Namor. So please don’t forget to like and subscribe for more videos just like this, and feel free to visit Geekritique.com to check out the preliminary timeline notes we have on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in the Timeline Journal right now.

Thank you to all of our patrons over on Patreon, you guys are incredible. Patrons get an exclusive updated timeline with our tentative Wakanda Forever placement in a giant downloadable file. If you enjoyed this video and you want to see me break down timelines outside of the MCU, check out my recent video on Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi! Thanks guys. Have a good one.