Black Panther director Ryan Coogler explains his Infinity Stones decision

Before Black Panther reached cinemas, many Marvel fans believed one of the Infinity Stones — the Soul Stone — would appear in the movie.

With the blockbuster playing in cinemas around the world (and breaking box office records in the process), we now know that no such MacGuffin appears in the movie.

Speaking to IGN, director Ryan Googler explained the decision: "I love the Infinity Stones as much as any comic book fan, it's just Wakanda already has its thing, which is Vibranium.

"For us, that was special enough, so to throw in something like another special thing didn't feel right. It felt like we should stick with our one MacGuffin for the country and explore that, let that be the important thing because frankly, we didn't need to have another piece like that.”

The Soul Stone — the only Infinity Stone that has not appeared on the big screen — is expected to appear in the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War, the villain Thanos attempting to bring the six powerful items together in order to rule the galaxy. Read more about them here.

While the Infinity Stone may have not appeared in Black Panther, the post-credits scenes hinted towards Wakanda’s future and its place in Avengers: Infinity War, which reaches cinemas this May.