Artificial heart gives a whole new meaning: Will we see Black Panther's "Synthetic Heart-Shaped Herb"?

JUST TO WARN, IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN Black Panther OR Avengers Infinity War, SPOILERS ARE AHEAD. READ AT OWN RISK.

For those who have seen the recent Marvel's Black Panther film starring Chadwick Boseman, you would have seen a variation on how the Black Panther received his unique abilities. In the film, T'Challa consumes the Heart-Shaped Herb and enters the ancestral plain. Once there he is bestowed his powers supposedly from the Panther Goddess Bast. Some of these abilities included superhuman strength, speed, agility, senses and an incredibly powerful kinesthetic sense; meaning he is able to detect changes in body position and movements without relying on information from the remaining five senses. 



Later in the film, Erik Killmonger (played by Michael B. Jordan) consumes the herb and also inherits the same abilities as T'Challa. However, in the comics, things played out very differently. The herb in fact rejected and poisoned Killmonger, not providing him any unique Panther abilities at all. This results in Killmonger manufacturing a unique 'Synthetic' Heart-Shaped Herb that would in turn give ANYONE the abilities of The Black Panther. 



Jumping back to the film, Once Killmonger received the abilities he made the decision to burn practically all of the remaining Heart-Shaped Herbs (aside from the one stolen by Nakia to give to T'Challa). Later on, Killmonger met a gruesome end by T'Challa's hand... and a blade through his chest. 



Now that Killmonger is dead, and all the supposed Heart-Shaped Herbs are now gone, it is very doubtful that we will see the original comic's story line come to pass in later Black Panther films. However, it doesn't mean that we won't see the upcoming Synthetic Herb in a different sense. S.H.E.I.L.D. could potentially generate it now with the new bonds Wakanda has made with the rest of the world. However, the most likely choice is going to be Shuri (played by Letitia Wright); T'Challa's sister/leading scientist of Wakanda. With her superior intellect, it wouldn't be surprising for her to create a synthetic version of the heart shaped herb. It could even open up new doors from the comics where SHE has in fact, taken the mantle of Black Panther.   

Now fast-forwarding to Infinity War. As we all witnessed, many of the Avengers and fifty percent of the universe is now gone, including T'Challa. As for Shuri, she was considered missing by the end of the film, however we did not see her turn to dust. In her situation she could be called Schrodinger's Panther; both possibly alive and possibly dead. 

The most likely situation for the upcoming films is that she did in fact survive. Looking at her decimated world with no true leader, she will probably have no choice but to take up the mantle of Queen of Wakanda and re-create herself as The Black Panther. In turn this could implement incredibly interesting dynamics for Wakanda if/when T'Challa returns. This is extremely plausible due to the exceptional 'over One Billion' dollars it has made in theaters. Most likely we will see T'Challa again, and from there we may see not one, but two Black Panthers. 

If anyone has any particular ideas as to what may happen with the future of Wakanda, leave a comment with your theory. 

Until then, Wakanda Forever.