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​Was There A ‘Lion King’ Easter Egg In ‘Black Panther’ That We All Missed?

​Was There A ‘Lion King’ Easter Egg In ‘Black Panther’ That We All Missed?

Turns out there are quite a few similarities between the two films - but there's one particular scene that sticks out

Jess Hardiman

Jess Hardiman

Black Panther may be widely regarded as one of the greatest Marvel movies ever made, but along with all the incredible performances and stunning CGI, it seems there might be another amazing detail that many of us have totally missed - with some fans reckoning it paid a sneaky tribute to The Lion King. If you don't believe us, watch this clip:

Seems kinda familiar, right? Yep, you're probably thinking of the poignant 'Remember who you are' scene from the 1994 animated Disney flick:

Not only are the two sequences stylistically pretty similar (the tree set against those beautiful pinky, purpley skies and all), the message is, too - as T'Challa is experiencing a spiritual vision not unlike Simba's, speaking to his father about his future.

I KNOW.

The parallels were pointed out by @UrbanNoizeRmxUrbanNoizeRmx on Twitter, where other social media users were so convinced by the theory that it racked up 11,000 likes and thousands of retweets.

In a later tweet, @UrbanNoizeRmx also mentioned the similarities between the two fathers' deaths, writing: "Man the parallels are too much looking back at the death of T'Challa's father on Civil War & Mufasa on Lion King.

"I am so glad I wasn't the only one that immediately thought about the Lion King when I saw this part," one person commented.

"I knew I had that Lion King feeling but I couldn't point out the exact shot," another agreed.

In fact, over on Ranker, there's a whole list of parallels between The Lion King and Black Panther, adding fuel to the fire.

Along with both protagonists needing reassurance from their fathers in dreamlike sequences, there's also the fact that they're usurped and push out of their kingdoms only to return triumphant. And that they're both big cats, kind of. Oh, and that each film boasts a strong mother figure who has to fight the patriarchy a bit, as well as a love interest who has to convince the heroes their fathers' respective deaths weren't their fault.

Basically, there's a lot to sift through, and it's pretty fascinating.

Plus, John Kani - who played T'Challa's father, T'Chaka - will be voicing Rafiki in the forthcoming live action Lion King... meaning we're essentially coming full circle. Neat, eh?

Featured Image Credit: Walt Disney

Topics: Entertainment, TV and Film, black panther