world was becoming increasingly chaotic throughout various historical events that affected Africa, such as the Atlantic slave trade, the colonization of Africa by European powers, World War I, and World War II. The Black Panthers of the past, however, were devoted to defending their own country and did not interfere, instead choosing to hide Wakanda from the world - fearing that if they became involved and revealed themselves, it would eventually lead to outsiders trying to invade Wakanda. Instead, Wakanda passes itself off as a small, poor Third World nation of humble herdsmen, using an advanced holographic projection shroud around its borders to hide the advanced technological civilization within. A core tension of the film's narrative is that the new Black Panther, T'Challa, is torn between his loyalty to hide and defend Wakanda as its king, and his own conscience to help the faltering world beyond its borders. Later in the film, Killmonger arrives to try to seize the throne - sharing T'Challa's desire to end Wakanda's isolationism, but by conquering the outside world using Wakanda's advanced technologies and weapons instead. Ultimately, T'Challa defeats Killmonger and decides to reveal Wakanda's true nature to the world during an address at the United Nations. The film's popularity led to a trend among athletes and celebrities around the world to throw up "Wakanda Forever" salutes after their victories. Director Ryan Coogler stated that his depiction of Wakanda was inspired by the southern African kingdom of Lesotho. Basotho blankets also became more known as a result of the film and its basis on Lesotho. Below are Wakanda's featured appearances: Wakanda is briefly shown on a holographic map in Iron Man 2, and is mentioned in Avengers: Age of Ultron as the source nation of vibranium, but appears for the first time in the final scene of Captain America: Civil War, where Steve Rogers takes refuge with Bucky Barnes and to ask for the Wakandans' help in undoing Barnes's Hydra brainwashing. The film also introduces Black Panther to the MCU, ahead of his solo film. Wakanda's background and culture is further expanded in the aforementioned solo film, which establishes that, as in the comics, the Black Panther's superhuman abilities come from consuming the "heart-shaped herb", local vegetation that was mutated over millions of years following exposure to Vibranium. In Avengers: Infinity War, members of the Avengers travel to Wakanda in the hopes that the country's