Plot TIMELINE
Pre-Wakanda
5 African Tribes fight over a meteorite with vibranium. A soldier eats a "heart-shaped herb” that has been infected with vibranium. The soldier gains “superhuman abilities,” thus creating the first Black Panther. The Black Panther brings 4 of the 5 tribes together to form Wakanda. The Jabari Tribe doesn’t join.
Wakanda isolates themselves and poses as a third world country to develop and advance the use of vibranium.
1992
Wakandan King T'Chaka visits his brother N’Jobu in California, USA. T’Chaka suspects that N’Jobu has been sending vibranium to African Americans to help them overcome oppression. Zuri (N’Jobu’s assistant who is an undercover Wakandan posing as an American) confirms T'Chaka's suspicion. Thus, N’Jobu tries to kill Zuri, but T’Chaka kills N’Jobu in order to save Zuri.
Present Day
T’Chaka dies at a United Nations meeting due to an explosion caused by Klaue (villain).
T’Challa, T'Chaka's son, assumes the throne. T’Challa and Okoye (T’Challa’s friend and leader of the Dora Milage) find Nakia
(T’Challa’s Wakandan love interest) on a mission where she is saving women from human trafficking to inform Nakia of T'Chaka's death. Nakia leaves her mission to attend T'Challa's crowning ceremony. During ceremony, M’Baku (leader of Jabari Tribe) challenges T’Challa to fight to the death for the throne. T’Challa wins, lets M’Baku live although this goes against tradition.
Klaue and Erik Stevens (N’Jobu’s son, aka Killmonger) steal Wakandan item from a museum. W’Kabi (leader of the Border Tribe) tells T’Challa to bring Klaue to Wakanda.
T’Challa, Okoye, and Nakia go to South Korea to get Klaue (this is where Klaue is trying to sell the vibranium artifact to a CIA agent Everett K. Ross). At the destination, a fight erupts. T’Challa is able to capture Klaue and turns him over to Agent Ross to be interrogated. Killmonger injures Agent Ross during the investigation and escapes with Klaue. T’Challa and his crew takes Ross to Wakanda for Shuri, T'Challa's younger sister, to heal him.
T’Challa talks to Zuri about his uncle N’Jobu's death and is informed that his father T’Chaka ordered Zuri to lie about the N'Jobu's death and say that N’Jobu disappeared instead. He also finds out that T'Chaka left Killmonger, N'Jobu's son, in America on his own which explains Killmonger's sense of revenge. Killmonger kills Klaue and brings him to Wakanda/tribe elders. Reveals that he is N’Jadaka, son of N'Jobu, and that he wants the throne.
Killmonger challenges T'Challa for the thrown, there is another crowning ceremony/fight to the death. T'Challa is stripped of his powers. Killmonger wins and throws T’Challa’s body over a cliff and also kills Zuri. Killmonger becomes King and orders all “heart-shaped herbs” to be burned. Nakia steals one before all of the "heart-shaped herbs" are destroyed. As king, he plans to assist African Americans around the world in rising against their oppressors.
Killmonger, with help from W’Kabi and the Border Tribe, get ready to circulate the advanced Wakandan weapons (made with vibranium) around the world to African Americans. Nakia, Shuri, Ramonda (T’Challa’s mom), and Agent Ross go to the Jabari Tribe to ask for help. M’Baku agrees and also reveals that they save T’Challa’s body from the river he was thrown into. T'Challa is in a coma, so Nakia heals him with the heart shaped herb.
The Dora Milaje (the king's army) and the Jabari Tribe fight against the Border Tribe to take down the planes carrying the weaponry. W’Kabi orders his tribe to stand down once Okoye, leader of the Dora Milaje and W'Kabi's love interest, convince them to stop.
T'Challa creates a Wakanda embassy in Los Angeles in the building that his uncle died. Shuri and Nakia work in the center in order to help the neighboring community with Wakanda resources and education. Later, T’Challa reveals Wakanda's true abilities and resources (ie. vibranium) to the United Nations.
During the fight between the tribes, T’Challa and Killmonger are battling. T'Challa stabs Killmonger and offers to heal him. Killmonger does not want to be healed just to be imprisoned in Wakanda, so he chooses to die.