Marvel is Notorious for having extremely specific (and subtle) Easter eggs throughout its series, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and in it's MCU. Even if many of us are looking for those Easter eggs and find many, there may always be more lurking where you least expect it or missed it because you blinked at an inopportune moment.
I think I may have found a big one that is in line with some of the latest hoopla in the MCU social media headspace.
Stan "The Man" Lee recently was caught saying:
"We haven’t made a Black Widow movie but she’s been in some of our movies, and she will be featured more prominently as we move forward. And the chances are she will have her own movie because eventually all the superheroes are going to have their own movies. They are already working on Ant-Man, Dr. Strange, and the Black Panther and there are others I am not allowed to talk about."
This of course isn't new (was quoted by a variety of outlets), he has been saying this about Black Panther synonymously to a Microsoft release reveal for a new OS..."It's coming soon, It's in the works...my guys are working on it." etc. etc. Ad Infinitum. But it may be closer than we realize and his recent remarks might actually be closer to home than we expected.
With Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. airing their second season we get a glimpse of a map specific to Coulson's recruitment efforts. On that map we see many locations scattered across the globe. In my episode breakdown article I talked about how his efforts in London may tie together with Lance Hunter, who in the comics is the Director of S.T.R.I.K.E. and his connections to Captain Britain. However, if we look closely we can see very specific spots marked on the dark continent of Africa.
We know Avengers: Age of Ultron is filming in South Africa, which may give us some connection to the long withheld Black Panther appearance, and while we're sure the film may or may not adhere to a direct source translation for the epic regal of Wakanda we can speculate.
I took some screenshots of the AoS Episode and others from Google Maps to match up some locations. I also found a map of Wakanda straight from the pages of the comics. This is what I have found.
In the screenshot above I marked an area with shaded circle which is a likely spot for Wakanda (which of course is a fictional place but would be in modern times Western Gabon). If we presume that the filming location of Southern Africa for Avengers:AOU is also the possible location for the sovereign kingdom, there is a mark on the Southern African coast that may also be a potential location for Wakanda that coincides on this map. However, Here are my findings on a real world map and how they matched up with the comic book description.
This is relatively close to the location seen in the episode, give or take a few clicks. But relatively the same spot - down to the island of of Sao Tome and Principe nearby.
Here is a zoomed in view of the same region with some specific areas marked off. This is Western Gabon with the Atlantic Ocean to its west and I also marked Twisted Visions Lake to its South.
Here, from the pages of the comic book is a map of Wakanda, Atlantic Ocean to its West, a large lake the southern coast of its central position with a mountainous region to its north with a river leading to and from this mountain. There are also various areas listed like Piranha Cove, the Killmongers Village, Serpent Valley and even the mound of Vibranium. Compare this to the location above and it's staggeringly close to what we see in the comics.
Stan Lee speaking to Larry King about Characters in the Works, including Black Panther
With all of this information in mind, is Stan Lee crying wolf this time? Is he merely stating a hopeful wish to get a character he loves attention? Or is the legendary comic writer revealing what may already be coming. Hidden as a breadcrumb here in Agents of SHIELD's premiere? Perhaps AoS is merely adding spots to potential characters that may or may not occur just for posterity sake...who knows!?
I for one hope it is a sign we're going to be getting this amazing character in the MCU in this phase, whether in Agents or possibly in Avengers: Age of Ultron. We already know there are a lot of talented actors that want a chance at the role, most recently throwing his name into the hat is Michael K. Williams (The Wire, BoardWalk Empire), Who I think would be amazing in the role if he can pull off an authentic accent. He already has one hell of a battle scar on his face to aid with the look!
What do you think? Comment, share, tweet, stand by the proverbial-Comic-Book-Water-Cooler at your favorite Comic Shop and have this conversation, It's what I do! Then come back and tell us about it! I want to hear from you. (that's me nearly buried under my favorite addictions to the right and my big friend there is 'Big Danny T' down for a visit from Anime Mid-Atlantic in Virginia).
Don't forget to hit that Giant Red Thumb! It makes me happy in the pants and likely others like Gusto, Mcgee and even Pasto...happy in the pants, if they've figured out how to make that work for them. Click it!
Sources for Stan Lee and his many Black Panther Statements:
Comic Book Movie (Many on CBM 518 results)
Pittsburgh Courier
Larry King Live
Den of Geek
ComicBook
Guardian Liberty Voice
By @EmanuelFCamacho