Ok, we’ve had a bit of time to digest Black Panther and to bask in the glory of everything it gave us, but one troubling trend I’m seeing sprouting from all of this is people calling for Shuri to take over the Ironheart helm.
This is an awful, awful awful, awful idea. The knee jerk reaction to a vibrant, novel representation of black women shouldn’t be to cut one role and combine it with another. The reaction should be to push for Ironheart’s presence. Also, on a side note, can we please stop debating about who should be cast as Ironheart when the literal inspiration for the modeling of the character is alive and well and the perfect age to play her? Skai Jackson is who RiRi is modeled after and has already expressed interest in portraying her.
If you want more Shuri, ask for a women of Wakanda story or put pressure on Disney to take the Black Panther MCU storyline down the comicbook path where Shuri held the mantle for awhile. To be honest, I was a bit disappointed that they didn’t take it this way when T’Challa was having an ice nap. This could’ve made for a really awesome take and emphasized that the women of Wakanda are it’s backbone.
All in all, it’s exciting to see people rally around characters that look like me. However, it’s troubling to see people lean towards shrinking the already small pool of roles that girls like me have to look to for inspiration.