Air box strainer

it appears super dirty because it's activated charcoal.

Leave it.

It is there so that when you shut down after a drive, any remaining gasoline vapor in the intake manifold cannot escape back to the atmosphere. Instead, it will be absorbed into the charcoal, and then released again into the engine the next time you start the car.

So it is self-cycling and lasts forever as long as you don't hurt it too much.

Many other cars now include these, they're getting more common because they're cheap*, almost foolproof and they really do reduce hydrocarbon emissions.

(cheap to make, parts counter pricing is a different story)