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Wakanda isn’t just the most advanced nation in the MCU, it’s also one of the longest-lived — and the upcoming animated Black Panther spin-off series Eyes of Wakanda is rooted in that fact, according to series creator Todd Harris, teasing connections to larger MCU history that has never before been revealed.

Speaking at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Harris said, “Wakanda is a 3,000-year-old society. They have a very succinct self-identity and they’re preserving that. We get the chance to see the kind of persistence and character of Wakandans. The premise of the show is what’s the kind of culture that builds the Black Panther? You see this even in their generals, their sergeants, everyday citizens. Everybody in Wakanda is like a physicist […] You see their patience over centuries to see work, that they will never be able to see get finished but they believe in their mission as a culture, to see this work through.”

The first episode of the series begins three millennia in the past from the MCU fans know today — for context, that’s roughly around the start of the Iron Age, at a point in human evolution where the earlier evidence of farming has been traced back to — where a former member of the Dora Milaje is tasked with bringing a rogue Wakandan general back to answer for his crimes.

The series will be “mostly a spy story,” Harris explained, following Wakandan agents as they interact with the rest of the world through history and track down stolen artifacts. Interestingly, during his Annecy appearance, Harris teased, “There will be an Iron Fist in here, and not the Iron Fist you expect.” Shades of Marvel Comics’ The Immortal Iron Fist, perhaps…

Eyes of Wakanda debuts August 6 on Disney+.

Consider this a meta post-credits scene for Marvel fans - the four key articles you need to read next to continue the thrills:

• How to watch the Marvel Cinematic Universe in release or chronological order
• The best Marvel Comics stories of all time
• All the MCU movies ranked from best to worst
• Our weekly Marvel insider's column, Marvel Matters