Editor’s Note: The following article contains spoilers for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.Marvel’s latest blockbusterBlack Panther: Wakanda Foreverbegins withShuri (Letitia Wright) desperately attempting to recreate a synthetic versionof one of her country’s most vital and now-lost resources - the heart-shaped herb. For one to become the Black Panther, the legendary protector of the hidden African nation of Wakanda, it takes more than wearing a fancy superhero suit. Taking on the title of the Black Panther brings with it the highest honor that the Wakandan nation can bestow, and the responsibility to protect it from those who wish it harm. However, protecting an entire country, especially one as advanced as Wakanda, is no easy task for any average human. This is why the Black Panther takes advantage of a state-of-the-art armored suit, the most advanced weapons available, and even is given superhuman abilities to face Wakanda’s enemies thanks to a special glowing plant - the heart-shaped herb.
Where do all these things come from? Well, the short answer is Vibranium - the alien-in-origin metal that is found in Wakanda. Centuries ago, a meteorite containing the precious metal crashed into Wakanda. It has since been used by the nation in essentially every facet of life, leading to the country’s best and brightest innovating through the creation of weapons, vehicles, and more inventions far ahead of their time. There is one gift that Vibranium granted that even the Wakandans do not fully understand, and that is the plant that they refer to as the heart-shaped herb.
What Is the Heart-Shaped Herb in ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’?
Though it doesn’t have a fancy, technical name like Vibranium, the heart-shaped herb is still a vital part of Wakandan culture and one of the most important aspects of the country as a whole. The Wakandan religion states that the plant’s existence can be owed to it being given to the nation from the Wakandan god, Bast. Though we know Bast is very much an existing entity in the Marvel Cinematic Universe thanks to a brief cameo from her inThor: Love and Thunder(2022), the true origins of the plant can be attributed to that same meteorite that broughtVibranium to Earth. Over the centuries, the Vibranium in Wakanda’s soil slowly mutated the plant into something quite miraculous.
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What Does the Heart-Shaped Herb in ‘Black Panther’ Do?
When a worthy candidate for the Black Panther title is chosen, the heart-shaped herb is what gives them their superhuman abilities. These abilities include enhanced senses, strength, agility, durability, speed, stamina, and healing factor, essentially making the user super-powered equal of even Earth’s mightiest heroes. When being granted these powers, the one who ingests the plant will go through a spiritual test where their consciousness istransported to the Ancestral Plane, otherwise known as the Wakandan afterlife. Here the user is able to commune with at least one of their deceased relatives, who shapes and challenges the new hero into the type of Black Panther they wish to be. For T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), he reunited with his father T’Chaka (John Kani), and for Shuri, she came face to face with her bloodthirsty cousin, Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan). Killmonger also visited the Plane when he usurped the throne, meeting with his own revolutionary father N’Jobu (Sterling K. Brown).
In a universe that’s packed with corporations, governments, and supervillains who are always looking for quick ways to amass an army of super soldiers, the plant sounds like it would be a perfect method for creating a powerful army. So why don’t they? Well, the plant has a habit of being a bit selective when it comes to who gets powers.
Does the Heart-Shaped Herb in ‘Black Panther’ Work for Everyone?
Though the Wakandan royalty makes sure to have a significant stockpile of the heart-shaped herb, only a chosen few are able to actually reap the benefits of the plant. Specifically, only those of royal blood are able to ingest the herb, starting with the first Black Panther King centuries ago. Now, in the comics, the herb only grants abilities to those who are either of noble blood or are otherwise “worthy” of receiving its gifts, so really not all that dissimilar from Thor’s mighty hammer, Mjolnir. The only difference is if you fail to lift Thor’s hammer, you face embarrassment. If you fail to digest the heart-shaped herb, you face death.
So far in the MCU, we haven’t seen anyone attempt to take the herb who wasn’t a part of the royal family, so we don’t know exactly what happens if and when they should fail the plant’s test. The characters that we know of who have taken the plant include T’Chaka, T’Challa, and Killmonger, the latter of which hatched a cruel plan in a brazen attempt to make himself the last Black Panther.
How Were All the Heart-Shaped Herbs Destroyed?
InBlack Panther(2019), when Killmonger thought he defeated and killed T’Challa in their duel for the throne, Wakandan law dictated that he was now King, and as such was entitled to take the heart-shaped herb. When he takes the plant and has a brief reunion with his father on the Ancestral Plane, Killmonger orders that all the samples of the heart-shaped herb are destroyed, keeping that immense power for himself and seemingly preventing any future descendant from becoming a new Black Panther.
Thankfully T’Challa, with the help of his mother and sister, was able to put a stop to Killmonger’s short-lived tyrannical reign, but what they thought would be a long-term issue turned out to be an urgent matter once T’Challa fell sick.
How Does the Heart-Shaped Herb Return in ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’?
InBlack Panther: Wakanda Forever, Shuri has been tirelessly trying to artificially recreate the heart-shaped herb, and tried to hastily expedite this process once T’Challa was diagnosed with a terminal illness. When she discovers he’s succumbed to his illness, Shuri enters a state of depression and gives up on trying to recreate the miracle herb. This leaves Wakanda without a Black Panther to protect them, and even though they have advanced weaponry and elite soldiers like the Dora Milaje, even they aren’t enough to stop the wrath of Namor (Tenoch Huerta Mejía) and the amphibious Talokanil, who threaten to destroy the surface world starting with Wakanda.
Shuri is able to meet with Namorbut ultimately fails to find a peaceful solution. However, she does learn of the Talokanil’s origins, where the denizens of the undersea civilization also received their abilities from another miraculous plant, and Namor just so happened to give her a sample of it. Shuri uses the Talokan plant to complete the genome for the heart-shaped herb’s DNA, and just like that, Wakanda’s miracle plant has been brought back from extinction. Shuri of course uses the herb herself to become the next Black Panther, but after Wakanda and Talokan call a truce, she plants her samples of the heart-shaped herb so that a new hero can take on the Black Panther title when her time is concluded.
What Does the Heart-Shaped Herb’s Return Mean for the Future of the Black Panther?
The ending ofWakanda Forevershows that the legacy of the Black Panther is secure, not only with the return of the herb, but also Shuri’s willingness to take on the role. Not to mention, Shuri learns that T’Challa’s lineage will also live on as he and Nakia’s secretive child was revealed to be named after him. It seems fair to suggest that once T’Challa Jr. grows up a bit, he may follow in his father’s footsteps and become Wakanda’s fearless and brave detective. A dream that is now possible thanks to the miracle of science that Shuri was able to create.
