Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Chadwick Boseman tragically passed away in 2020 and left behind a very impressive legacy despite a relatively small filmography. Starting off as a theatre actor, Boseman effectively transitioned into the big screen with projects like Person’s Unknown, 42, Get on Up, Marshall, and arguably his biggest film, Black Panther. His performance as the ruler of the fictional African kingdom of Wakanda within the Marvel Cinematic Universe allowed casual audiences the chance to witness his credible talent firsthand, which in turn bolstered his fanbase who all felt truly shocked and heartbroken by his passing. Due to how prolific the movie was, his legacy will live on through this franchise ad character, and its 2022 sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, did a great job at honouring him.

After failing to save her brother from a deadly illness, Shuri (played again by Letitia Wright) along with her mother, Queen Ramonda (played again by Angela Bassett), and the rest of Wakanda grieve the loss of their King. After a year of failing to properly come to terms with her pain, Shuri is forced to return to the real world when a group of blue-skinned aquatic beings start to attack surface dwellers around the globe. These attacks are being led by Namor (played by Tenoch Huerta Mejía), the mutant king of the underwater city of Talokan who harbors a strong hatred for the surface and its inhabitants, and currently has his sights set on young inventor Riri Williams (played by Dominique Thorne) who invented a device that can detect the usually undetectable substance of Vibranium, which puts Namor’s people and home at risk. While Shuri tries to find a peaceful solution to avoid further bloodshed, Namor is unwavering in his demand for Riri’s murder, and Wakanda’s refusal to co-operate will lead him to waging war on the kingdom personally, forcing Shuri to adopt the Black Panther mantle in order to save her home and her people, while in turn force her to confront the repressed feelings she’s been hiding since her brother’s passing.

Released after an egregious production hell that was further slowed by the death of their lead actor, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever didn’t make the same kind of monumental splash the first film did, but was still reviewed well, earned a ton of money at the box office, and is generally seen as one of the better movies within Phase 4 of Marvel’s cinematic run. While certainly containing its own issues, it manages the impossible by somewhat surpassing its predecessor despite being severely crippled due to missing its title character, with the help of incredible performances, improved visuals and action, and a very emotionally raw and resonant story.

Plans for a sequel were already in development since 2018, and with Black Panther being one of the most successful MCU films in terms of box office, it made sense to continue expanding a portion of this universe that had such rich potential. However, Chadwick Boseman’s passing really shook things up in the writing department, as they decided to kill off the character of T’Challa as opposed to recast him in honour of the actor, which meant deleting a very pivotal character in the Marvel canon which would not only shake up their future storylines, but ones in the surrounding films as well which was pretty risky. That along with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic meant it took longer to release than expected, and juggling all of this while also grieving the loss of their co-star and friend would’ve made for a painful shoot to say the least. But through that grief came an empathetic awareness that seemed to bleed into the script written by director Ryan Coogler and screenwriter Joe Robert Cole, as the both of them constructed a story that is equally as emotionally gripping as it is just generally engaging. Despite the film feeling like a eulogy in many ways (which could feel oppressively miserable), the film never suffers from Chadwick Boseman’s looming shadow or the character’s absence and instead works around the tragedy by evolving the world, the characters, and the stakes to a whole new level.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever actually balances a lot of ideas and plot threads that could very easily result in a jumbled experience, but through Coogler’s expert directing and a plentiful running time of nearly three hours, it’s able to flesh these aspects out and tie it all back into an emotional and character-driven tale about regrowing after suffering painful losses.  It can’t have it all unfortunately, as while the film’s raw emotional drive is strong, the story around that passion isn’t as flowing in comparison to the first film, which had a more clean-cut narrative but still came across as decently grand and contained some heavy dramatic elements. This movie, by comparison, is much smaller and intimate, allowing for many memorable emotional set pieces and character interactions, but a larger conflict and resolution that (while appropriately built up and expected) doesn’t have the same weight as before. The climax is also a little predictable and contains some expected tropes of the MCU, but for the most part, the film is still paced well and doesn’t feel like it’s repeating anything from its predecessor despite carrying similar themes and principles.

One of the downsides of the first film was sadly with the character of T’Challa. In the history of the comics, Black Panther is incredibly important, being the first protagonist of African descent in mainstream American comics, and his presence spawned its own world that showcased a form of African culture to mainstream comic readers. Even though that is fantastic in many ways, the writing for the character within the MCU was pretty one-note, leaving him feeling a little generic, even with Chadwick Boseman doing quite well from a performance level. He was ironically overshadowed by the side characters in his own film, so since the side characters would occupy the leading parts in this sequel, nothing feels heavily weakened and they are definitely strong enough to hold a movie on their own. Shuri becoming the main character works very well, as seeing her juggle with the loss of her brother, an internal struggle between her family’s cultural heritage and her technological and anti-spiritual preference, as well as a large-scale conflict that puts her and her entire kingdom is danger, allows her to feel rounded and flawed, yet still enjoyable to watch. Letitia Wright also does a fantastic job not only keeping Shuri’s old playful and witty side intact but diving further into the role by examining the character’s newfound strength in both a positive and negative light, made extra interesting once she adopts the Black Panther mantle and how her rageful vengeance impacts that sacred title, it’s a pretty great character study and is pulled off wonderfully by Wright.

Others like Angela Bassett, Danai Gurira and Dominique Thorn are also quite good, rounding out this cast with exceptional talent that are especially strong in the dramatic moments (Bassett may not have won the Oscar, but she definitely deserved it). The villain is also a standout, as Namor is brought to life so expertly with a new coat of paint that really makes him his own thing. The character’s ties to Aztec and Mayan culture and the overall Mesoamerican aesthetic Talokan exhibits, make him and his people feel completely dissimilar to other characters of a similar ilk, and he is dripping with intense charm, intrigue, and intimidation all at once. While his motivation and plan are pretty stereotypical, the design is well executed (even if the wings look a little silly), the backstory is clever, and his actions are effectively cold and brutal, yet his anti-hero stance keeps things open for him to be more than just a villain in the future. Some people like Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke still aren’t given much screen time or quality writing to leave a memorable impression even if they are still performed well, and the scenes involving Martin Freeman and Julia Louis Dreyfuss are not very interesting, but nobody feels like they’re slouching through this project and give it their A-game all the way through.

While Marvel was no stranger to featuring some off and even notably fake digital effects in some of their movies, the original Black Panther had absolutely garbage special effects that specifically stood out as being fake and ugly looking, but the characters, dramatic weight, and scope of the story allowed people to ignore them for the most part. With Wakanda Forever coming out four years after the first film, the effects do look marginally better (only with the occasionally obvious green screened environment or digital model), and this is turn, elevates most of the action, which is also pretty good in this. While maybe not as narratively poignant as the first film, they’re better composed and shot together, and due to featuring more out-there characters and conflicts, it can dip into more extreme territories that don’t have to feel entirely grounded (anytime Namor is flying around and destroying stuff is pretty cool).

There’s a pleasant harsh physicality to most of them that not only matches the oppressive and moody tone the film has, but also makes some moments feel extra intense and cool (mainly a specific fight involving Okoye and a Talokan warrior on a bridge). It’s wonderful to revisit Wakanda as it was one of the best parts of the first film, and yet, it strangely feels like one of the weaker aspects of this sequel. Wakanda previously felt like a character in its own right and had such a wonderful display of culture, colors and unique presence that helped it stand apart from other locations within this universe, whereas due to this sequel spending more time in other areas, it feels like any standard location, and nothing new is really showcased or presented, it’s a little disappointing.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is a beautiful tribute to an actor and will act as a wonderful final sendoff, but it was smart enough to be more than just a eulogy.  While Phase 4 was pretty unbalanced in parts, this film was one of the stronger projects within this branch and provided an extension to a character, world, and mythos that may contain its own obvious flaws, but carries enough genuine care, passion and thought to result in a good time. The first Black Panther had fantastic cultural significance, a great villain, really enjoyable side characters, and some fun action, but it stumbled in its pacing, main character and effects, whereas Wakanda Forever doesn’t have as many glaring faults overall and still contains the usual pros, but might not connect with audiences in the same way as the first because of the sorrowful tone, less grand scope and the original lead being absent. It will be up to personal taste as to which one a person will prefer, but during a period where a marvel film was lucky to have a decent follow-up at all, you learn to count your blessings.