shuri training with thor and shang-chi

The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s fourth phase ended with 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, promoting Shuri as the new Black Panther. Up until then, Shuri was happy to be Wakanda’s #1 inventor, and she preferred to let her big brother T’Challa do most of the serious fighting. Now Shuri is the official Black Panther, and even if she triumphed over Namor the Sub-Mariner, she needs more training.


RELATED: The 10 Best Shuri Fights in the Black Panther Comics

Shuri knows her stuff, yet she still has ample room to grow as a warrior. Fortunately for her, many MCU superheroes are still alive and well, including a variety of the late T’Challa’s friends and allies. Ideally, T’Challa’s fellow heroes will meet the new Black Panther and give her some much-needed training to refine her technique and prepare her for whatever villains may show up next in future MCU phases.

10 Okoye Should Be Available For Training

Okoye readies her spear in the MCU's Black Panther

Okoye fought well alongside Shuri in Wakanda Forever, being a battle-hardened and highly trained warrior who also commands the Dora Milaje unit. Okoye may not have superpowers or weapons like the Ten Rings or Mjolnir, but she still knows more about war than Shuri does.

Fortunately, Okoye is absolutely loyal to the Wakandan throne and would do anything to support the royal family, Shuri included. Okoye would prove a tough but fair coach for the new Black Panther, training Shuri to get her ready for whatever villain shows up next.

9 Drax The Destroyer Is A Fine Sparring Partner

drax

Drax the Destroyer may not be an elegant or brilliant fighter, but he is highly experienced in melee combat and has survived many tough battles. Clearly, Drax is doing something right, and he could share his hard-won battlefield wisdom with Shuri if they ever met.

Drax could also serve as a tough and capable sparring partner for the new Black Panther. Drax might take Shuri too lightly at first, but he would quickly learn to take the new Black Panther seriously and go all-out so Shuri can toughen up as a costumed superhero.

8 Bucky Barnes Knows Some Moves

MCU Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes

In the MCU’s third phase, Bucky Barnes struggled with his Winter Soldier persona, and he became T’Challa’s worst enemy after he was blamed for the Vienna bombing. Later, T’Challa and Bucky made peace, and Bucky was even welcomed into Wakanda as a friend.

RELATED: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Shuri in the Black Panther Comics

Given the chance, Bucky can and should spar with Shuri in unarmed combat training to show her how the Winter Soldier does things. The Soviet Union drilled some seriously deadly skills into him, so those elite skills may as well do some good for a new Black Panther.

7 Valkyrie Once Faced Hela & Survived

Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie in the MCU's Thor: Ragnarok.

Valkyrie made her debut in 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok as a hard-drinking, bitter survivor of a desperate battle against Hela the death goddess many years ago. Valkyrie is a highly skilled and experienced Asgardian, and she can use modern and ancient-style weapons alike.

Valkyrie would have much to teach the new Black Panther, and demonstrate the Valkyries’ most deadly and effective combat moves. Asgard and the Valkyries may be gone, but their skills and may live on in the new Black Panther as well as Valkyrie herself.

6 Sam Wilson Is A Veteran Soldier

Captain America 4 Proves the MCU Has a Serious Rogues Gallery Problem

Sam Wilson first appeared in Phase 2 as a combat veteran who only feared failing in his duty, not death. This, combined with his reliability and idealism, made him a fine ally for Captain America, and later, his successor as well.

RELATED: 10 Ways the MCU’s Shuri is Just Like Wanda Maximoff

No doubt Sam Wilson, if asked, would visit Wakanda to give Shuri a few demonstrations on Army-style CQC and refine Shuri’s technique a bit. The new Captain America is a friendly and fair warrior who simply couldn’t say no to any rookie fighter who needed his help, least of all Shuri.

5 The Mighty Thor Odinson Would Have Fun Training Shuri

thor 2011 mcu marvel

The mighty Thor Odinson relies on hammers and axes rather than panther claws to fight, but even so, he could definitely teach Shuri a few tricks that he’s learned over the years. Thor is over 1,500 years old and has been fighting for centuries, so he definitely knows a few things about war that no Black Panther ever did.

Thor has the spare time and energy for this anyway, since he felt so aimless in Thor: Love and Thunder. He’d gladly visit Wakanda and volunteer as Shuri’s newest and toughest training partner. He can handle anything Shuri can throw at him, and the experience would teach Shuri much.

4 Lady Sif Is A Fine Warrior

MCU Sif fighting in Thor: The Dark World

Lady Sif is one of several Asgardian warriors who has the strength and skill to help train any Black Panther in the art of war. Like her friend Thor, Sif is more used to fighting with shields and weapons, but she could still instruct Shuri in combat moves totally foreign to Wakanda.

RELATED: Shuri’s 10 Greatest Inventions

Sif is a smart, reliable, and friendly Asgardian, and any Avenger or independent hero can trust her to watch their back in battle. Sif and Shuri would almost definitely become good friends while training together, and Sif might even learn a few things from the Wakandans in return.

3 Shang-Chi Has Been Training All His Life

Shang-Chi wielding his alien/magic rings in the MCU

Shang-Chi is an expert martial artist, having trained under his warlord father Xu Wenwu all his life in secluded training compounds somewhere in China. Shang-Chi eventually parted ways with his father and carved out his own identity as a superhero, though he hasn’t forgotten his father’s teachings.

If asked, Shang-Chi could gladly visit Wakanda and coach Shuri in person. Shuri’s unarmed combat technique would improve by leaps and bounds with Shang-Chi’s help, and even if Shuri cannot use the Ten Rings, she would learn a lot from her new martial artist ally and his fighting style.

2 Minus The Rings, Xu Xialing Is Her Brother’s Equal

Xu Xialing and the Golden Daggers Club

Xu Xiaing is Shang-Chi’s little sister, and although Xu Wenwu forbade his daughter from learning martial arts, Xu Xialing trained in secret, imitating every move she watched her brother use in his own training. When the brother and sister faced off in adulthood, they were roughly even in skill.

Xu Xialing, aside from the Ten Rings, is her brother’s equal and can easily hold her own against most enemies. This means that, just like Shang-Chi, Xu Xialing could easily teach Shuri a wide variety of deadly combat moves and fighting styles.

1 Hope Pym/Wasp Is A Terrific Unarmed Fighter

marvel mcu hope van dyne as the wasp

Hank Pym’s adult daughter Hope is a formidable fighter, though after the tragedy of Hope’s mother in the 1980s, Hank has been highly reluctant to let his daughter actually fight as a size-changing hero. All the same, Hope eventually became a truly formidable fighter, complete with unarmed combat skill and a Wasp suit.

Hope was the one who personally trained Scott Lang the reformed burglar in the ways of unarmed combat before the heist to steal the Yellowjacket suit. Hope may not be in Sif’s or Shang-Chi’s level in unarmed combat, but she could still teach Shuri a few moves and help the new Black Panther hone her technique in any practice arena.

NEXT: 10 MCU Heroes Who Suffered the Most in Phase 4

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