Warning: Spoilers for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Shuri somehow came back from a seemingly fatal blow to defeat Namor in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’s ending. After a brutal slugfest in the desert, Shuri took a spear to the torso from Tenoch Huerta’s character. Though this looked to be the Sub-Mariner’s moment of triumph in the movie, it was really Shuri who emerged victorious.
When Namor stabbed Shuri, there was a legitimately good reason to believe that the villain had won the fight. After all, Tenoch Huerta's Namor had plunged his spear all the way through Shuri’s abdomen. Though Shuri consumed the synthetic heart-shaped herb, she’s still human, meaning that there’s only so much physical punishment her body can take. However, it seems its special properties were potent enough for her to pull through the pain. Taking the herb helped T’Challa recover from his wounds at a fast pace in Black Panther, so it’s at least somewhat feasible that the herb helped make her survival possible.
How Powerful Is Shuri's New Black Panther Suit?
Even though the heart-shaped herb was the biggest factor, it’s likely that Shuri’s Black Panther suit played a crucial role in her survival as well. After she pulled herself off the spear, the suit could be seen reconstructing itself around the open gash. The suit itself may or may not have actual healing properties, but by sealing up the wound immediately after the spear was removed, it enabled Shuri’s body to recover faster and not die of blood loss. Had this moment not happened, there’s a good chance Shuri wouldn’t have made it out of the desert in Black Panther 2.
From all indications, Shuri’s suit is every bit as powerful as the one worn by T’Challa in his MCU movies. That makes sense, given that Letitia Wright's Shuri herself was the scientist primarily responsible for its capabilities in Black Panther and the Avengers movies. She doesn’t have the rich combat experience of her predecessor, but thanks to the durability of the suit, its ability to absorb the impact of Namor’s blows, and the nanotechnology laced into the Vibranium armor, allowed her to go toe-to-toe with the Savage Sub-Mariner. That’s an impressive feat, considering that even a weakened, dried-out Namor is still an MCU powerhouse.
Shuri Being Stabbed Highlights A Wakanda Forever Problem
Shuri overcoming the stab wound (and the beating she took from Namor) to miraculously pull out a win ittedly did seem a bit hard to believe. But because of the ambiguity regarding the suit’s powers and her consumption of the heart-shaped herb, the moment can be shrugged off as something that might could’ve happened, but the problem is that it’s not exactly an isolated incident. Shuri’s survival wasn’t the only surprising scene in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever that didn’t get a proper explanation. There’s also the question of how Nakia made it into Talocan to save Shuri, the ease in which Namor can sneak into Wakanda, and more head-scratching moments. What happened to Shuri was just one of them.
