Batman has Alfred. James Bond has Q. Captain America has Bucky and Black Panther has Shuri, the brilliant little sister Princess and tech genius who designs all of the gadgets, suits and other devices the fictional Wakandan king and Marvel superhero uses to save the world and his nation.
The character got his own movie recently which opened last week. Naturally, the tech fans were curious about all of the technological and fantastic innovation and inventions featured in the film.
Screen rant explains how the breakout star of the latest release in the MCU Black Panther’s tech gadgets work:
Welcome to Wakanda! Marvel’s Black Panther introduces viewers to a whole new fictional country, one that is more advanced than anything we’ve seen in a Marvel film to date. And yet, the science and technology has been carefully designed to be relatable to viewers. Production designers have created a futuristic country that’s essentially taken real-world science ten steps forward, envisioning the weapons and technology of the future.
The secret of Wakanda’s advancement is its vibranium. This fictional metal created the country with a meteor hit and helped its people leap forward technologically (as well as leading to the creation of the Heart-Shaped Herb). The rare metal can absorb energy, and has been used to manipulate everything from kinetic energy to ultrasonics. Meanwhile, Letitia Wright’s 16-year-old Shuri acts as the country’s chief designer. She may only be a teenager, but Shuri is actually smarter than even Tony Stark, and it seems that she’s already revolutionized Wakandan science. The character effectively plays the Q to T’Challa’s James Bond, outfitting him with all the equipment he could need to act as Wakanda’s greatest protector.
The film features not one, but three Black Panther costumes. The first was apparently built by T’Challa himself, and is made of vibranium. As fans saw in Captain America: Civil War, it’s effectively bulletproof; the kinetic energy of bullets is absorbed into it, rendering T’Challa immune from harm.
In Shuri’s view, of course, this armor is nothing more than a relic. She’s created a vibranium costume that is constructed of nanotechnology. The nanobots are stored within T’Challa’s necklace while dormant; when he triggers them, they weave across his body, forming the distinctive new suit. Meanwhile, Shuri has gone one step further in her handling of vibranium. Where the traditional Black Panther costume could absorb the energy of attacks, Shuri has worked out how to control that energy’s release. Energy can neither be created nor destroyed; traditionally, vibranium simply absorbs that energy into itself, until the potential energy becomes too great and it is released in a devastating blast. Shuri has learned how to control that blast. It means that any attack on T’Challa effectively builds up his suit’s kinetic charge until it reaches maximum – and he releases it in a stunning, radial blast.
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