Wakanda

"You are in Wakanda now. Thanos will have nothing but dust and blood."

- Black Panther to Proxima Midnight

Wakanda, officially known as the Kingdom of Wakanda, is a small isolationist landlocked country located in Africa, surrounded by mountain ranges and a thick forest. It was ruled by King T'Challa, the heir of the mantle of Black Panther, and is the only known source of the metal vibranium. Despite appearing to be little more than an obscure, poor third world country with little to offer to the rest of the world, it is in fact the most advanced country in the world, whose level of technology is at least several decades ahead of anywhere else on Earth.

Origins
"Millions of years ago, a meteorite made of vibranium, the strongest substance in the universe, struck the continent of Africa, affecting the plant life around it. And when the time of men came, five tribes settled on it and called it Wakanda."

- N'Jobu 2.5 million years ago a meteorite made of an alien metal landed in the heart of Africa, greatly affecting the surrounding flora. Centuries later, five tribes colonized the area and went to war over the metal, which they referred to as Isipho. One day, a warrior shaman named Bashenga was guided by a vision of the panther goddess Bast, who led him towards a plant that had mutated as a result of the metal's powers.

Upon ingesting the herb, Bashenga discovered he had been imbued with superhuman abilities and used them to unite the tribes as the first King of Wakanda and the first "Black Panther". Four of the tribes pledged their loyalty to Bashenga while the remaining tribe went into isolation.

As time passed, the Wakandans used the metal to develop technology that was far more highly-advanced than any other in existence. To protect themselves from the chaos that was slowly consuming the rest of the world, they created a cloaking field that allowed them to hide in plain sight.

S.H.I.E.L.D. Surveillance
Wakanda was marked as a "hot-spot" for activities monitored by S.H.I.E.L.D. As such, it was displayed in the holographic maps used by the organization to oversee those activities.

Theft of Vibranium
"Upon this rock, I will build my church. Vibranium." "You know, it came at great personal cost. It's worth billions." "Now, so are you."

- Ultron and Ulysses Klaue Black-market arms dealer Ulysses Klaue smuggled large amounts of vibranium out of Wakanda, with the aid of the King's younger brother N'Jobu. Klaue was eventually captured and had the word "thief" burnt into his neck, but managed to escape. Klaue began to sell vibranium on the black market until 2015, when the artificial intelligence Ultron purchased the remaining caches for a few billion dollars.

Sokovia Accords
"When stolen Wakandan vibranium was used to make a terrible weapon, we in Wakanda were forced to question our legacy. Those men and women killed in Nigeria were part of a goodwill mission from a country too long in the shadows. We will not, however, let misfortune drive us back. We will fight to improve the world we wish to join."

- T'Chaka After a terrorist attack in Lagos claimed the lives of twenty-six people, eleven of the victims being relief aid workers from Wakanda, King T'Chaka was one of several international politicians who called for the United Nations to create a system of accountability.

Sometime later, the United Nations passed the Sokovia Accords before arranging a formal ceremony at the Vienna International Centre in Austria. T'Chaka and his son T'Challa were among those in attendance. During the ceremony, as T'Chaka gave the keynote address, a bomb detonated and decimated the building, killing T'Chaka and twelve other people.

Immediately following the attack, security footage revealed that Bucky Barnes was responsible for T'Chaka's death. T'Challa, who inherited the throne, set out to kill Barnes only to discover he had been framed by Sokovian intelligence officer Helmut Zemo.

T'Challa's Coronation
As a result of King T'Chaka's death in Vienna, his son T'Challa was subsequently crowned as the new king of Wakanda, first retrieving his former lover Nakia from her current mission with Okoye. He then challenged M'Baku for the throne of Wakanda, as by tradition he must fight one of the warriors chosen for the kingdom's throne from the other tribes of Wakanda. While M'Baku was later defeated, his life was spared so he could continue aiding his own tribe in the mountains. T'Challa later took the Heart-Shaped Herb so he could meet with his ancestors including the late T'Chaka.

Klaue's Escape
Later, after T'Challa caught and arrested Ulysses Klaue in Busan, Klaue had managed to escape with the help of his enforcers, injuring the CIA agent Everett Ross while doing so. Knowing about the secrecy risks associated with bringing an outsider into Wakanda, T'Challa decided to take Ross to Wakanda and let his sister Shuri heal him.

Killmonger's Rule
After he learned from Zuri of the truth about his uncle N'Jobu, T'Challa was surprised to find that Erik Killmonger had arrived in Wakanda, having just killed Ulysses Klaue. Killmonger denounced T'Challa and questioned his own identity, but upon being forced to leave had revealed to the others that he was N'Jobu's son, challenging T'Challa to the throne of Wakanda.

Based on tradition, the two faced each other at the Warrior Falls for ceremonial fight to earn the title of king. Upon being stripped of his powers however, T'Challa discovered that the military training and experience had made Killmonger a tough opponent for him to beat. Despite initially seeming like T'Challa would win, Killmonger later dealt some hard blows to T'Challa and threw him off the waterfall as he was crowned the new king of Wakanda, having killed Zuri for being "responsible for his father's death." While Killmonger underwent the traditional rituals for a newly crowned Wakandan king, it was revealed that T'Challa was recovered by the Jabari Tribe in an unconscious state. Given one last Heart-Shaped Herb to recover as all other herbs were burned down by Killmonger, T'Challa woke up and requested for the Jabari to help him overthrow Killmonger, who planned to send Wakandan technology to all corners of the world so all people of African descent could defend themselves more easily.

Battle of Mount Bashenga
As the Wakandan crafts took off one-by-one with their vibranium weapons, Erik Killmonger noticed one of the crafts on the ground burning. T'Challa emerged from the craft unscathed, as he and the Dora Milaje proceeded to face off against Killmonger and the Border Tribe with help from the Jabari Tribe.

During the battle, Killmonger had defeated the Dora Milaje and was about to tackle Shuri when T'Challa charged into him, knocking both of them into the Vibranium mine that lay below Mount Bashenga.

While in the mine, T'Challa and Killmonger fought each other on the tracks the Wakandan Maglev Train, where sonic-powered devices are used to nullify the effects of vibranium while they're being transported on the trains. Once T'Challa told Shuri to activate the Kimoyo Beads, the Black Panther Habits of T'Challa and Killmonger were able to be briefly disabled whenever a train passes, eventually allowing T'Challa to stab Killmonger in the chest with his own weapon. Knowing that he just lost the fight, Killmonger addressed his father and how he referred to Wakanda as the most beautiful place in the world. T'Challa then took Killmonger out of the mine to watch the sunset over Wakanda. T'Challa offered to help Killmonger by having him healed, but Killmonger declined, mentioning that he would rather die than get locked up. Killmonger then took the weapon out of his chest and died on the cliff, as T'Challa reclaimed his throne and kingdom.

Exposing Wakanda to the World
T'Challa had decided to open the advanced nation to the rest of the world and share its technology with them. Addressing the truth about Wakanda at the United Nations in Vienna, he announced the end of Wakanda's isolation and claimed the entire planet to be completely unified. He decided to purchase the apartment complex where T'Chaka killed N'Jobu, and renovate it into an embassy for Wakanda that Shuri and Nakia will run.

Sanctuary for Bucky Barnes


"You know if they find out he's here, they'll come for him." "Let them try."

- Steve Rogers and T'Challa

Meeting with Steve Rogers in Wakanda, T'Challa agreed to grant asylum to Bucky Barnes, promising to help the former cleanse his mind of the HYDRA programming implemented. Barnes was later brought out of cryo-stasis by Shuri and began his recuperation in a remote Wakandan village. One morning, Barnes, who had been titled as the "White Wolf", woke to find himself being pestered by a trio of Wakandan children before Shuri arrived to help with his rehabilitation. Having had his mind repaired, Barnes began to work as a farmer within Wakanda to try and gain some normality back into his life and find his inner peace away from his life as an assassin for HYDRA.

Battle of Wakanda


"This will be the end of Wakanda." "Then it will be the noblest ending in history."

- M'Baku and Okoye

In Wakanda, the Avengers on Earth consisting of Captain America, Black Widow, War Machine, Falcon, Bruce Banner, Scarlet Witch, and T'Challa tasked Shuri with extracting the Mind Stone from injured Vision. Black Order and Outriders then invaded and the Avengers mounted a defense alongside Black Panther, Winter Soldier and the united forces of Dora Milaje, Jabari Tribe and the Wakandan Royal Guard. Banner, unable to summon Hulk, fought in Stark's Hulkbuster armor. Thor, Rocket, and Groot arrived on Earth and rallied the defenses. Proxima Midnight, Cull Obsidian and Corvus Glaive were killed, their army of Outriders destroyed.

Unfortunately, at the same time, the Battle of Titan had gone poorly and Thanos forced Doctor Strange to give him the Time Stone. He then arrived in person to Wakanda, intend on personally retrieving the last Stone, and the Avengers engaged him to stop him from getting to Vision, but Thanos' control over the fabrics of reality instantly overwhelmed them all. Alone with Maximoff, Vision told her that she had to kill him. At first, she refused out of love for Vision until he convinced her that it was the only way to stop Thanos. Maximoff then tearfully unleashed a stream of energy into the stone as the other Avengers tried to stop Thanos in futile attempts. As he defeated the Avengers with complete ease, Thanos began to approach Vision and Maximoff, but was held back by the latter, who issued a stream of energy. Vision managed to declare his love for Maximoff as she successfully cracked and shattered the Mind Stone, destroying it along with Vision in an explosion. Thanos briefly sympathized with Maximoff before he used the Time Stone to undo her actions and retrieved the stone from Vision, destroying him for good. After obtaining the Mind Stone, Thanos powered up, only to be interrupted by Thor, who unleashed the full might of his power and Stormbreaker upon Thanos in a last-minute attempt to stop him, violently stabbing him in the chest. Thor landed on the ground and walked towards the Mad Titan, pushing Stormbreaker into the latter's chest as deep as he could into Thanos, reminding him of the vow he made to Thanos for killing his brother Loki. Despite being badly wounded by Thor, Thanos remained unfazed and mocked Thor that he should have aimed for the head and activated the Infinity Gauntlet with a snap of his fingers before leaving Wakanda by a portal. Thanos' plan came to fruition as beings across the universe began to disintegrate, including in Wakanda as Winter Soldier, Groot, Maximoff, Black Panther, Falcon and some of the surviving Wakandan soldiers. Banner, M'Baku, Okoye, Rhodes, Rocket, Rogers, Romanoff, and Thor were left on the Wakandan battlefield.

Battle of Earth
Five years later, the Dore Milaje leader Okoye is charge to look into the situation of Wakanda, and entire universe. By the time after the surviving Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy finally found the way to reverse the decimation thanks to Ant-Man’s Time Heist through Quantum Realm to the further past timelines before Thanos or other villains gets them, all Wakandan civilians and warriors are revived alongside all lives across the universe. Unfortunately, the time-displaced Thanos and his loyal army are somehow found out the Avengers and Guardians’ plans, and trails them, attacking the New Avengers Facility, along with destroying the time machine. When the last surviving Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy heroes needed help against time-displaced Thanos’ army, all Wakandan armies led by Black Panther, Okoye and Shuri are immediately summoned by Doctor Strange via armies of Masters of the Mystic Arts, joining forces not only the Mystic Arts sorcerers and multiple other heroes and warriors. Despite Wakanda celebrates the victory of saving the universe, Tony Stark’s death still impacts along with it, with T'Challa, Okoye and Shuri are one of the heroes who attends Tony’s funeral at his home.

Trivia

 * Wakanda is depicted as a small area around, a point where Uganda, Kenya, and  meet. Interestingly, this is the location of the , an area of land contested between Kenya and South Sudan.
 * The geography of Wakanda depicted thus far shows lush vegetation, which would situate Wakanda in Central Africa, i.e. bordering the Democratic Republic of the Congo, rather than where it is seen on maps bordering Kenya and Ethiopia, where there is mostly just desert.
 * During the Sokovia Accords in Vienna, T'Chaka speaks to his son T'Challa in, and it therefore appears to be their native tongue. However, while the Wakandan language is likely to be a (like Xhosa is) given its location, Xhosa is spoken in southern Africa, far from where Wakanda is said to be (however, the Xhosa were part of the Nguni migrations, which saw groups of Bantu speakers, head from Central Africa down south, with the Xhosa in particular once being near the Great Lakes.)
 * Despite the above-mentioned, given Wakandan traditions that in the comics are said to derive from Ancient Egypt, the Wakandan language may also be Afro-Asiatic.
 * In the Runaways episode Big Shot, the mountains of Wakanda are mentioned by Alex Wilder.

Behind the Scenes

 * In the commentary for Iron Man 2, Jon Favreau noted Wakanda specifically as one of the locations Nick Fury was watching.
 * A vibranium mine in Wakanda was a location planned to appear in Avengers: Age of Ultron, but was ultimately scrapped.
 * John Kani, the actor who portrays T'Chaka, taught Chadwick Boseman to speak for the film.