It appears that Wakanda, the fictional East African country from Black Panther, was a short-lived US free-trade partner. On Wednesday (Dec. 18), software engineer Francis Tseng noticed that items were supposedly being traded between the two countries, according to the US Department of Agriculture.
“Wakanda is listed as a US free trade partner on the USDA website??” he tweeted.
The USDA website showed that the US and Wakanda agreed to trade cows, goats, ducks and other livestock.
Apparently, the bizarre finding was the result of a USDA staff error. BBC reported that the Kingdom of Wakanda’s listing was added as a test file for staff and was never meant to go public.
“The Wakanda information should have been removed after testing and has now been taken down,” a USDA spokesperson told the outlet.
The fictitious country was soon removed after Tseng’s finding, which went viral on Twitter, only to prompt even more jokes.
“Trump working extra hard for black votes,” political commentator Bakari Sellers tweeted, as the news arrived just a day after President Trump’s impeachment. “We see you bruh.”
“I love how Wakanda was like, yeah no we’re not trading vibranium with you maniacs but can we interest you in ducks, donkeys, and dairy cows?” another Twitter user wrote.
While there is no Wakanda, there will be, thankfully, a Black Panther 2. Director Ryan Coogler previously announced that the superhero sequel will hit theaters on May 6, 2020. Coogler revealed the Marvel follow-up will have a new villain and title, adding, “We’re not taking our time, we’re really trying to get it right.”
Black Panther was received with critically high acclaim. The 2018 film grossed $700 million in the US and $1.3 billion worldwide, making it the second-highest grossing Marvel movie of all time. Black Panther was also the first Oscar-nominated superhero movie for Best Picture, ultimately taking home three out of seven nominated honors.
See some more Twitter reactions below.