Unlike Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America, there are a few Avengers who never got a solo outing to introduce the non-comics-reading world to their characters. Captain America: Civil War recently added Black Panther to Team Avengers With No Origin Movies, which left a lot of his character a mystery for those not in the know. Does he have superpowers or special abilities? Where do they come from? What’s Black Panther’s job when he’s not out avenging? Where did he get that sweet (digitally enhanced) suit? Chadwick Boseman assures us that we’ll soon learn more of T’challa’s origins in the Black Panther solo film.

In an interview with Yahoo Movies U.K., Boseman acknowledged that most of Black Panther remains a mystery in Civil War. Which isn’t much of a surprise, as that movie was already loaded with enough plot for a trilogy of films.

Civil War was a jumping off point for the Black Panther character. It’s not necessarily an origin story because he remains a mystery through most of the movie. When I take the mask off and it’s revealed that it’s the Prince of Wakanda, that’s the guy whose father was just killed – it’s a surprise […] So then, you’re learning – as you watch the movie – what his powers are, because you’re not sure. He remains a mystery through most of the movie.

Boseman also said that the upcoming Black Panther film will answer our remaining questions about his character, his past, and where he comes from.

If you saw the tease at the end [of Civil War] in Wakanda, that’s more mystery there so I think there’s a lot to reveal about the character. There is definitely more of his origin in Black Panther. You’re going to learn about Wakanda, its culture, its traditions, the past. You can go through all the comic books and know that there’s more Panthers that have existed in the past – that’s origin.

The Black Panther title is hereditary, but it also has to be earned. In the comics, T’challa gains enhanced physical abilities by eating a strange herb, and he also has a connection with Wakanda’s Black Panther god, which makes him even more powerful. There’s no telling whether Marvel will choose to keep this information as-is or if anything will be changed around, but we’ll find out in a little more than a year.

Ryan Coogler is directing and co-writing Black Panther, which also stars Lupita Nyong’o, Michael B. Jordan, Andy Serkis, and Danai Gurira, and will pounce on theaters February 16, 2018.

More From Classic Rock Q107