What is Wakanda Isn't Real?

It is a 2018 catchphrase that started with a Ben Shapiro tweet dismissing a New York Times editorial about Marvel's Black Panther, later used both earnestly and as mockery of that earnestness.

Where did Wakanda Isn't Real come from?

Ben Shapiro posted the three-word reply on Twitter on February 9th, 2018 and expanded on it four days later in a segment titled "Making Wakanda Great Again" on his show.

What does Wakanda Isn't Real mean?

Said straight, it insists that treating the fictional country as a serious subject for cultural analysis is silly; said as a joke, it caricatures that dismissal as pundits shouting at a superhero movie.

How do you use Wakanda Isn't Real?

People reply with the phrase to earnest essays or threads about Black Panther's politics, or stage bits where someone bursts in mid-sentence yelling the line, as @KrangTNelson did with a Fozzie Bear setup on February 18th, 2018.

Is Wakanda Isn't Real still popular?

Peak use was concentrated in February 2018, when Hollywood Palms Cinema and the Atlanta Airport account rode the joke to tens of thousands of retweets each. It is now a classic callback to that moment rather than an active format.

Wakanda Isn't Real

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Published November 11, 2026

Wakanda Isn't Real is a catchphrase that started with a February 2018 Ben Shapiro tweet replying to a New York Times editorial about the fictional African nation in Marvel's Black Panther. The three-word response drew both earnest co-signs from other conservative commentators and a wave of mockery casting Shapiro as angrily shouting at a children's film, and by late February Twitter accounts for airports and theaters were riffing on the format.

catchphrase memes marvel dismissal memes culture war memes backfire memes

Overview

Wakanda Isn't Real works in two directions at once. Said straight, it is a dismissal aimed at anyone writing seriously about the politics or symbolism of Marvel's fictional African nation, insisting that literary analysis of a comic book country is silly on its face2. Said as a joke, it is a caricature of that same dismissal, picturing a pundit pounding on the door to inform people that a superhero movie is fiction5.

The mocking version usually leans on the absurdity of taking the position too seriously. A February 18th, 2018 tweet from @KrangTNelson imagined Fozzie Bear starting his trademark "Waka Waka" before Ben Shapiro burst in yelling the phrase, which pulled more than 1,100 retweets and 8,300 likes in three days5. Brand accounts picked up the bit the same week, with Hollywood Palms Cinema issuing a sarcastic "apology" to patrons upset by their Black Panther posts4 and the Atlanta Airport account mocking up a departures board "scheduling" flights to Wakanda6.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

Twitter

Creator

Ben Shapiro

Date

2018

Catalyst: on February 9th, 2018, conservative commentator Ben Shapiro quote-tweeted a New York Times editorial about the meaning of Wakanda as an uncolonized African nation in the newly released film Black Panther, writing simply "Wakanda isn't real."1 The reply drew more than 3,400 retweets and 13,000 likes7.

Earliest sustained meme use: four days later, on February 13th, Shapiro expanded the point on an episode of The Ben Shapiro Show titled "Making Wakanda Great Again," telling viewers, "Sorry to break it to you, folks, but Wakanda is not a real place"2. That video has since been viewed more than 260,000 times on YouTube7, and the follow-up gave the three-word line enough staying power for other commentators and jokesters to run with it.

How It Spread

Within a week of Shapiro's tweet, other conservative commentators adopted the phrase almost verbatim. On February 14th, Daily Caller journalist Ian Miles Cheong quote-tweeted an NPR piece on the real-world influences for Wakanda with "Wakanda isn't real, people," picking up more than 60 retweets and 360 likes3.

The mocking backlash moved faster. Hollywood Palms Cinema's February 16th "apology" tweet about its Black Panther posts cleared 5,900 retweets and 14,000 likes in five days4, and @KrangTNelson's Fozzie Bear bit on February 18th pushed the joke into absurdist territory5. By February 20th, enough people were confused by the back-and-forth that Redditor quizzicalquow asked /r/OutOfTheLoop to explain what the memes meant, drawing more than 480 points and a 90% upvote rate in a day8. The following day, the Atlanta Airport's Twitter account posted a mocked-up terminal board listing flights to Wakanda, which hit more than 13,000 retweets and 30,000 likes in two days6.

Timeline

2018-02-09

Ben Shapiro quote-tweets a New York Times editorial about Black Panther with "Wakanda isn't real," drawing more than 3,400 retweets[1].

2018-02-13

Shapiro airs "Making Wakanda Great Again" on The Ben Shapiro Show, telling viewers Wakanda is not a real place[2].

2018-02-14

Daily Caller journalist Ian Miles Cheong replies to an NPR piece with "Wakanda isn't real, people"[3].

2018-02-16

Hollywood Palms Cinema posts a sarcastic apology to patrons upset by its Black Panther posts[4].

2018-02-18

@KrangTNelson posts the Fozzie Bear "WAKANDA ISN'T REAL" bit mocking Shapiro[5].

2018-02-20

Redditor quizzicalquow asks /r/OutOfTheLoop to explain the memes, drawing more than 480 points[8].

2018-02-21

The Atlanta Airport Twitter account posts a mocked-up terminal board "scheduling" flights to Wakanda[6].

How to Use This Meme

People typically deploy the phrase in one of two registers. A straight-faced user drops "Wakanda isn't real" as a reply to any serious essay, podcast or thread about the film's politics, treating the fictional setting as proof the analysis is unserious. The mocking register exaggerates the Shapiro posture, often as a bit where a character is interrupted mid-sentence by someone shouting the line, a format @KrangTNelson used with Fozzie Bear on February 18th, 20185.