Marvel Studios is gearing up for Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars to cap off what has been an up-and-down last few years for the MCU.
But given the return of Robert Downey Jr. and the high anticipation for the two-part Avengers film, Kevin Feige and co. have a chance to end on a strong note and head into the X-Men era of the MCU with a full head of steam.
After Secret Wars, Feige has previously confirmed that the MCU will be headed into the "Mutant Saga" and that the X-Men will be the core team, not the Avengers.
Fans have just recently seen Jean Grey introduced in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and it's thought that various X-Men and mutant-related characters, concepts and storylines will be introduced with each subsequent solo MCU film.
Along those lines, a new rumor has surfaced about Black Panther 3, namely that the Savage Land and Ka-Zar will be at the center.
As an isolated, prehistoric area in the subterranean region of Antarctica,
An official part of the broader Marvel Universe, the Savage Land is mostly associated with the X-Men and officially debuted in X-Men #10 in 1965 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
At its inception, the Savage Land allowed Lee and Kirby to break the standard superhero mold, dropping the X-Men right into classic pulp adventures stacked with prehistoric dinosaurs and lost civilizations.
Magneto seized on the valley’s strange environment to spawn his Savage Land Mutates, setting a precedent for villains like Mister Sinister, the High Evolutionary, and Roxxon to use the location for twisted experiments.
Yet despite being a hotbed for villainy (and the backdrop for Rogue and Magneto’s complicated romantic relationship), the hidden jungle has also offered a rare refuge for mutants escaping persecution back home.
The Savage Land is also the home of Antarctic Vibranium (also known as Anti-Metal) - a subset of the Marvel metal that can liquefy all other metals. When thinking about the Black Panther films that have come before, the third film could see the discovery of this new variety of vibranium lead to a race between Wakanda and Atlantis/Talokan to stake its claim.
The Long Walk star David Jonsson was confirmed back in July to take over the mantle of Black Panther from Shuri in the third film (if not sooner, in Secret Wars) and it's rumored that Maya Boyd's Storm will also appear and play a central role.
Ryan Coogler previously admitted he tried to use Kraven the Hunter in a previous Black Panther film, only for Sony to slam the door on the idea.
Introducing Ka-Zar and the Savage Land could be Marvel's perfect workaround. It gives the MCU a backdoor to deliver that exact same primal, apex-predator vibe, and a proper jungle hunt, without having to ask Sony for permission.