Screenrant
Editor Mike Shawver debunks Doctor Doom rumors and explains why Black Panther: Wakanda Forever needed to be more self-contained.
Editor Mike Shawver debunks the Doctor Doom rumors and explains why Black Panther: Wakanda Forever needed to be more self-contained than other MCU movies. The MCU has become famous for its interconnectivity with the movies, and now the Disney Plus series tying together a larger multiverse and sagas. Before Black Panther: Wakanda Forever hit theaters, rumors swirled about Doctor Doom making his MCU debut in a post-credit scene. Post-credit scenes have frequently been used set up new films, notably Thanos inThe Avengers post-credit scene.
In an exclusive interview with Screen Rant Shawver quashes the rumors about Doctor Doom debuting in a post-credit scene. While he says it could have been discussed at some point, it was never actually in the film at any stage. Shawver also explained why Black Panther: Wakanda Forever needed to be more self-contained, especially with its ending.
This is, obviously, a very unique movie. We are walking this line that has almost never had to be walked before between reality and fantasy. We needed to make sure this movie was what it was, and there was never any pressure to connect the major universe. It was always, "Is this the best way for our story to honor Chadwick, to show Shuri, to give the world something through which they can grieve and have a cathartic experience? Is this movie self-contained?" We make sure that you do not have to see any of these movies beforehand to get what it is. I think that was the mentality at the end.
With that said, the executives like Kevin, Lou, and Victoria; Nate Moore, our producer; Kiana, who is another producer that works with us... They're so detail-oriented and so thoughtful and just turn over every rock. "What is the best idea? What can we do?" I would not doubt that it was discussed somewhere else, but they respected what Ryan wanted to do and what we wanted to do. It just had to honor Chadwick. We felt like the right thing to do was to keep it to that. As a fan, I'd love to see the multiverse version, but I think leaving people with the feeling that we did was more important than, "Oh cool. That's coming up."
Doctor Doom appearing in a post-credit scene, while fun, would not have served the movie itself but only the larger MCU tapestry. Shawver's point about making sure the ending felt like a catharsis for Shuri and the audience also lends itself to the self-contained approach. The new characters introduced in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever naturally tie into the main plot as opposed to only serving the MCU at large.
