One of Black Panther’s funniest moments happens before any major battle. Shuri looks at T’Challa’s sandals and hits him with a familiar internet roast: “What are those?”
The joke was already a viral meme before the movie used it. The original phrase came from a 2015 Instagram video by Brandon Moore that spread widely on Vine, where he pointed at a police officer’s work shoes and asked the now-famous question.
Why the scene landed
Shuri is introduced as Wakanda’s tech genius, but the movie also makes her feel plugged into the same internet culture as the audience. Having the smartest person in Wakanda use a meme to roast her brother made her instantly relatable.
The joke also worked because it was unexpected. Audiences were watching a futuristic African kingdom with advanced technology, and suddenly a familiar internet phrase showed up in the middle of the scene.
Why Shuri became such a meme-friendly character
Shuri’s expressions, confidence and quick jokes created dozens of reaction-image possibilities. She could be brilliant in one scene and clowning her brother in the next. That balance made her one of the easiest characters from the movie to turn into memes.
Even years later, the scene is a reminder that the best movie memes often come from moments that already feel like something friends would say to each other in real life.
Question: What movie line instantly became part of your everyday vocabulary?
Source: The Daily Dot — The best Black Panther memes on the internet.
