Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Starring Letitia Wright (Shuri), Angela Bassett (Queen Ramonda), Tenoch Huerta (Namor), Lupita Nyong’o (Nakia), Danai Gurira (Okoye), Winston Duke (M’Baku), Martin Freeman (Everett Ross), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine), Florence Kasumba (Ayo), Michaela Coel (Aneka), Dominique Thorne (Riri Williams / Ironheart), Mabel Cadena (Namora), and Alex Livinalli (Attuma), with Trevor Noah as the voice of Griot, with a special appearance by Michael B. Jordan as N’Jadaka / Erik Killmonger and introducing Divine Love Konadu-Sun as Toussaint / T’Challa.
BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER
Directed by Ryan Coogler
Produced by Kevin Feige and Nate Moore
Written by Ryan Coogler with Joe Robert Cole
Music by Ludwig Goransson
Distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Run Time: 2 hours and 41 minutes
World Premier: October 26, 2022, in Hollywood
Opening Weekend Box Office: $180 million in North America
Worldwide Box Office: $859 million
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 84%
R.I.P.
Fun Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Facts
On July 20, 2019, at San Diego Comic Con, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige revealed most of the MCU Phase 4 slate as part of Marvel Studios’ landmark 10th San Diego Comic Con presentation. After name-dropping such projects as Eternals, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, WandaVision, Loki: Season One, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Hawkeye, Thor: Love and Thunder, and Black Widow, Feige teased a sequel to 2018’s Black Panther.
On August 24, 2019, at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, California, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige welcomed Black Panther Director Ryan Coogler on-stage, and officially announced Black Panther II with a May 6, 2022, release date, and to be written and directed by Coogler.
On August 28, 2020, Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman who portrayed T’Challa / The Black Panther in Captain America: Civil War, Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame died at the age of 43 from colon cancer, sending shockwaves throughout the Marvel / MCU community.
On December 10, 2020, as part of Disney’s “Investor’s Day”, Marvel Chief Creative Officer Kevin Feige announced a new release date for Black Panther II: July 8, 2022, while Marvel Studios dealt with the untimely death of Chadwick Boseman and the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic. During his Disney+ presentation, Feige announced that Marvel Studios would NOT be recasting the part of T’Challa / The Black Panther out of respect for the late Chadwick Boseman. From there, the decision was ultimately made to kill-off Boseman’s T’Challa in the opening moments of Wakanda Forever, with the King of Wakanda succumbing to a deadly disease.
On May 3, 2021, Marvel Studios dropped a Phase 4 Preview trailer that served as an emotional tribute to movie-going. As part of the celebration, the title for Black Panther II was revealed as Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
On June 30, 2021, filming on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever commenced.
On August 25, 2021, Letitia Wright (Shuri) was hospitalized after suffering injuries while filming scenes for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in Boston, Massachusetts. On November 19, 2021, filming on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was suspended due to the injuries suffered by Wright, which were more serious than first thought. Letitia suffered a fractured shoulder and a concussion. Filming resumed in January of 2022.
Marvel Entertainment
On October 15, 2021, 95-year-old Dorothy Steel, who portrayed the elder of the Wakandan Merchant Tribe in Black Panther passed away. She was in the middle of reprising her role for Black Panther: Wakanda: Forever.
On October 18, 2021, Marvel Studios announced a slew of release date changes. Among them was Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which moved from July 8, 2022, to November 11, 2022.
On March 24, 2022, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever wrapped filming.
The original version of the script for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever saw Chadwick Boseman’s King T’Challa dealing with resuming life after the Blip and dealing with his loss of time after being amongst the Vanished for 5-years.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever marks the MCU debut of Namor the Submariner. Namor is Marvel’s oldest character, dating back to October of 1939 when he was created by Bill Everett. Namor predated Captain Ameria and predated DC’s Aquaman by more than two years. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever revealed that Namor was a mutant. This is true to the traditional Marvel Comics and this was the second mutant reveal in the MCU 616-Universe following Kamala Khan in Ms. Marvel, though chronologically, Namor is far older than Kamala, perhaps making him the MCU 616-Universe’s first mutant.
In Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Namor’s underwater home is Talokan. In the Marvel comics, Namor’s underwater home is Atlantis. In the MCU, Talokan is a Mesoamerican civilization that was inspired by ancient Mayan culture. Mexican actor Tenoch Huerta was cast by Marvel Studios to portray Namor in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
In the more recent Marvel Comics, Namor the Submariner and T’Challa / The Black Panther have shared quite the tumultuous relationship. In 2012’s Marvel Comics Event Series Avengers vs X-Men, Namor’s Atlantis went to war against T’Challa’s Wakanda, with Namor going so far as to flood Wakanda while sharing the power of the “Phoenix Force.” From there, Namor and T’Challa worked together as co-members of The Illuminati. Namor beckoned T’Challa to broker a peace between Atlantis and Wakanda, but this was prevented by T’Challa’s sister Shuri, who was the ruler of Wakanda at the time. Shuri went on to invade Atlantis while Namor went on to join The Cabal. From there, Namor deceitfully put Wakanda in the sights of the Mad Titan Thanos, and after Thanos waged war against Wakanda, T’Challa vowed to kill Namor, but was never able to permanently take the Submariner down, and after the 2015 Marvel Event Series Secret Wars, Namor and T’Challa made amends.
24-year-old actress Dominique Thorne portrays Riri Williams in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Riri was first introduced in the Marvel comics in 2016. She was created by Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Deodato and becomes the superhero known as Ironheart who is inspired by the innovative work of Tony Stark / Iron Man. On December 10, 2020, Kevin Feige announced an Ironheart series for Disney+ that would star Thorne as Williams.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was the sixth highest-grossing film of 2022, and one of three Marvel Studios films to place within the Top-10 along with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (# 4) and Thor: Love and Thunder (# 8).
On March 12, 2023, Ruth E. Carter won the Oscar for Best Costume design for her work on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Carter previously won the same Award for 2018’s Black Panther. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was nominated for a total of five Academy Awards with Carter getting the lone win. The other categories the film was nominated for were Best Original Song (Lift Me Up by Rihanna), Best Visual Effects, Best Makup and Hairstyling, and Best Supporting Actress (Angela Bassett).
The 2023 book Marvel Studios – The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline lists King T’Challa’s death as having occurred in the Spring of 2024 (about six-months after the Battle of Earth in Avengers: Endgame). Following the Wakandan funeral for T’Challa, the rest of the film takes place in the Spring of 2025. This puts the film chronologically after Moon Knight and before Ms. Marvel while much of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law occurs concurrently with Wakanda: Forever.
R.I.P.
My Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Review
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is a film that had been a long time coming. The death of Chadwick Boseman in 2020 cast a shadow over this movie even before it ever entered into production. Chadwick’s loss hit me and a lot of other fans of Marvel and fans of cinema especially hard. Chadwick wasn’t one of these traditional actors that publicly battled demons. There were no stories of substance abuse, domestic violence, or controversial arrests. By all accounts, Chadwick Boseman was a good man that loved his profession of choice and inspired millions of people with his passion, his sincerity, and his nobility.
I would be lying if I told you that 2018’s Black Panther was my favorite film of all time. It wasn’t. However, i really, really liked the movie and I was captivated by the performance of Chadwick in that film just as I was with his performance in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War. I believe that Michael B. Jordan’s Erik Killmonger would have stolen Black Panther if not for the remarkable performance by Boseman as the calm, collected, and empathetic rightful King of Wakanda. Ultimately, Chadwick’s sincerity, wisdom, benevolence, and conviction allowed him to emerge from that film as the true hero of the story, despite an incredible performance by Jordan as Killmonger.
The amazing way with which Chadwick brought T’Challa to life in the four Marvel Studios films that he appeared in had me so very excited for the future of the MCU and seeing where he would take that character. Make no mistake about it, when you hear people recite the list of the greatest page-to-screen Marvel comic book character adaptations, Boseman as T’Challa is amongst the best of the best, right up there with Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark / Iron Man, Chris Evans as Steve Rogers / Captain America, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow, Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson / Deadpool, Josh Brolin as Thanos and Tom Hiddleston as Loki. Boseman brought T’Challa to life in spectacular and inspiring fashion, and what he contributed to the MCU is something that should always be celebrated. It is for this reason that I respect Marvel Studios’ decision not to recast the role of T’Challa.
Chadwick Boseman meant so much to so many people in that role. He took what he was doing very seriously and carried himself as any role model should. Chadwick was PROUD to be Black Panther! He was well aware of the cultural impact that he had as the living embodiment of that character, and he embraced it fully.
Black Panther as a film deserved every accolade that it received. My theatrical experience seeing that movie was one that will stay with me for the rest of my life. It was a truly beautiful! I knew then and still appreciate to this day what it meant for so many people of color who saw themselves represented on the big screen in a way they’d never been represented before! That was and is a wonderful thing!
I never doubted that a sequel to Black Panther would happen, but once Chadwick Boseman passed away, I instantly began wondering what the sequel might look like. I wasn’t sure that a Black Panther film could be appropriately carried without Boseman. Though there were several wonderful performances in the first Black Panther movie, I think that everyone who saw it would agree that Chadwick carried that film. It just wouldn’t have worked without him.
Because of this, I knew that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever would be an uphill battle for the Marvel Studios team. The bar was set so very high in 2018, and no disrespect to anyone involved in either film, I just felt that the sequel being made would be akin to an NFL team taking the field without their starting quarterback. Chadwick’s death changed everything.
All of that being said, I went to see Black Panther: Wakanda Forever on Friday night, November 11, 2022, with high hopes but low expectations, and in my opinion, everyone involved with the production of this film knocked it out of the park!
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
I LOVED this movie, guys! It blew me away to be honest! I was in awe watching this movie from start to finish, absolutely amazed by the efforts of the cast, the crew, the writers, the producers, and by Marvel Studios as a company! This was an easy fumble. No one would have thought less of Marvel Studios if the team dropped the ball here. This movie had every reason to disappoint, to under deliver, to be less-than, yet everyone involved gave it everything that they had, and the end result is a MCU masterpiece!
Yes, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever really is that good!
From a plot and a creative standpoint, this movie did everything that it needed to, starting out with mourning the loss of the late Chadwick Boseman.
Marvel Studios took an interesting approach to this. The very first scene of this movie sees Letitia Wright’s Shuri in a panic trying to figure out a way to save her dying brother, but to no avail. Marvel Studios pretty much gave the fictional character T’Challa the same type of death that the real-life Chadwick Boseman endured, and this was really hard to watch, just because it was so sad and so tragic, and it was so rooted in real life tragedy … it was a really tough watch, but it was tough in all the right ways, if that makes any sense, and right out the gate, T’Challa is dead and the Nation of Wakanda has to move forward without him, just as we, as a viewing audience have had to move on without Chadwick Boseman in the MCU. It was art imitating life, and it was beautiful.
With T’Challa buried, the film begins weaving its plot, showing Queen Ramonda having to deal with other Nations, who are pressuring Wakanda to share their resources (namely Vibranium). Queen Ramonda stands up to the other Nations while encouraging Shuri (to no avail) to move forward with her efforts to recreate the sacred Heart-Shaped Herb so that a new Black Panther can emerge. Shuri, however, believes the Black Panther is a relic of the past.
Meanwhile, a revolutionary machine that can detect Vibranium while exploring the Ocean has been invented and is being used by the CIA.
This incurs the wrath of Namor of Talokan, as it turns out, Wakanda is not the only Nation who built their empire around Vibranium … the underwater Nation of Talokan did as well! Namor violently murders the whole of the CIA team, with the CIA blaming Wakanda for the deaths. A concerned Namor, blaming Wakanda for the Vibranium race, reaches out to Wakanda, giving them an ultimatum to either locate the scientist who invented the Vibranium detecting machine and hand them over to him, or else face his wrath.
With hopes of protecting the scientist, Shuri and Okoye venture to Boston to meet the scientist: a MIT student named Riri Williams.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Riri is excited to meet the Wakandans, but the FBI soon arrive to break-up the gathering. Riri escapes in her Stark-inspired suit of armor while Shuri and Okoye escape by other means. Namor’s people abduct Shuri and Riri despite Okoye’s best efforts, and Okoye is consequently removed from the Dora Milaje by Queen Ramonda, who is furious that her daughter has been taken.
Ramonda goes on to seek out Nakia, who is living in Haiti, six years removed from Wakanda. Ramonda tasks Nakia with rescuing Shuri by any means necessary. In the meantime, Shuri and Riri are taken to Talokan where Namor shares his story with Shuri amidst hopes that she will understand why things must go down the way that he thinks they should. Namor proposes an alliance with Wakanda, but Shuri declares that no such thing can ever be if Namor kills Riri. This leaves the two at a stalemate.
From there, Ramonda arranges a meeting with Namor while Nakia rescues Shuri and Riri from Talokan, killing one of Namor’s people in the process. This is seen by Namor as an unforgivable sin, and he declares war on Wakanda! Namor and his people pretty much destroy Wakanda, and Queen Ramonda dies via drowning while saving the life of Riri Williams. Namor vows to fully destroy Wakanda in one week’s time now that Shuri is Queen.
In the meantime, Shuri at long last replicates the Heart-Shaped Herb, using the Vibranium that Namor and his people considered sacred as a guide. Shuri ingests the Herb and meets Erik Killmonger on the Ancestral Plane. Killmonger fuels Shuri’s grief and rage and she returns to the land of the living on a mission for vengeance, taking up the mantle of The Black Panther! Shuri then rejects M’Baku’s pleas for peace while reinstating Okoye as a Midnight Angel.
Shuri sets a trap for Namor in the ocean and a fierce battle ensues pitting Wakanda against Talokan!
Intending to dry Namor out in an effort to weaken him, Shuri separates Namor from his people and takes the fight to the person most responsible for her mother’s death. The two leaders of their respective Nations wage war against one another on a small island, but Shuri ultimately decides to spare Namor’s life, stating that they must not allow themselves or their people to be consumed with vengeance.
Namor voluntarily yields, and a new union is formed between Wakanda and Talokan! From there, Riri Williams returns to Boston while Shuri declines the Wakandan Throne and relocates to Haiti where she meets T’Challa and Nakia’s six-year-old son Toussaint (T’Challa).
In praising Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, I have to start with the acting performances, and in praising those, there is no other place to start for me than with Angela Bassett.
In portraying a Queen that has lost her husband, that has lost her son, and that is leading a Nation that is embarking upon a controversial and uncomfortable new era while still dealing with the fallout of the Snap and the Blip, Angela Bassett had a lot to juggle, but she did each and everything that she needed to! Her character was a combination of grief-stricken, concerned, confidant, angry, and determined. When Shuri becomes endangered in this film, Ramonda reaches her breaking point. The scene where Ramonda demotes Okoye was absolutely incredible! There was such intensity and such conviction, and such raw emotion! I believe that Angela Bassett’s performance in this film was some of the greatest acting in MCU history, and she deserved that Academy Award that she was nominated for, in my opinion.
Next, I have to praise Letitia Wright as Shuri. My goodness, did she have a lot to do in this movie, and she rose to the occasion in every conceivable way that she could! As a character in the MCU, Shuri has had this playful, young energy and a confidence that borders on arrogance, but not in an obnoxious way. She has been one of those characters that has been very likable and very easy to cheer for, but in Wakanda Forever, Letitia was asked to take Shuri to several new places. Though there are hints of the Shuri that we know that bleed through at times, this is a hardened, cynical, and grieving Shuri that has become completely disenchanted with Wakanda’s legends and rituals, that has become mentally and emotionally incapable of coping with loss, and a Shuri that in her lust for vengeance, has let pure, unabashed hatred to enter her heart.
What I thought was remarkable about Letitia’s performance was her ability to convincingly adopt all of these things into her character in a natural way. She’s almost playing an altogether different character in this film, and her performance added so much depth to the Shuri character that yes, I can see this franchise being built around her going forward! She is far more than comic relief and she is far more than a supporting player. She is a star and she proved that in this film.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
From the start in the MCU, Shuri was presented as a brilliant person that scoffed at tradition, but all of that was greatly expanded upon here. In Wakanda Forever, Shuri has a crisis of faith in which she is almost repulsed by the ability of others to stay true to their myths, legends, and traditions in the face of tragedy. This complicates her relationship with everyone around her and fuels a subtle aggression within her that builds and builds as the movie goes on.
I really enjoyed Shuri’s scenes in Talokan and the beauty that she saw in that culture. That would all come back around in a nice way near the end of the film. I thought she had great chemistry with Tenoch Huerta’s Namor and I enjoyed all of their scenes together whether they were bonding or fighting.
From the moment that Queen Ramonda dies, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever becomes Shuri’s movie. I loved her conversation with Killmonger on the Ancestral Plane, and I loved the rage with which she lashed out over the fact that she did not see her mother and then with which she picked up the mantle of The Black Panther! Wearing a suit that called back to the Golden Jaguar suit that Killmonger wore was a really nice touch, and as a viewer, I was anxious to see Shuri take on Namor! I also want to say that the scene in which Shuri emerges as the new Black Panther gave me goosebumps! It was a true stand up and cheer moment with the chanting of the Wakandans surrounding her and the powerful musical score bringing everything together. This sequence will stand as one of the all-time great MCU superhero moments!
Amidst a ton of mystery and secrecy pertaining to who the new Black Panther would be in this film, everyone that bet on that being Shuri ended up being correct. Was she good in the role? I say yes! I thought she looked great in the costume, and she fought well in the action scenes that she participated in. Letitia Wright was phenomenal throughout this entire film. She was given the proverbial ball out of tragic necessity, but she proved herself worthy of carrying it. I think Chadwick Boseman would be proud!
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Next, I want to praise Tenoch Huerta as Namor!
Namor’s arrival on the big screen has been a long time coming. I have read comic book stories that I like with Namor in them, and I have read comic book stories that I do not like with Namor in them. I tend to really enjoy him as a member of the Invaders alongside Captain America, Bucky, and the original Human Torch during the WWII days, but at the same time, I generally hate him as a Fantastic Four antagonist. His dynamic with T’Challa and Wakanda has been where I think Namor has worked best in the comics. Namor is an arrogant, selfish, and entitled character even when he’s trying to play the part of hero and that makes him quite unlikable in the comics. The opposite rings true in Wakanda Forever for Namor. There is a subtle arrogance to Tenoch Huerta’s performance, but it comes off as more of a confidence that Namor has the ability to fully back up.
In Wakanda Forever, Namor is strong, regal, and ready, willing, and able to make the hard choices for the greater good of his people. Yes, Namor is a mutant, and that’s pretty cool of course, but above all, Namor is a King and Tenoch Huerta is SO charming and SO captivating throughout this movie!
I think everything with Namor and Talokan worked. It didn’t bother me that Marvel Studios decided to go with Talokan instead of Atlantis. In fact, I think it benefited Namor as a character. The Aztec and Mayan influences allowed for some outstanding visuals. I loved how the underwater city of Talokan looked and I liked Namor’s origin story and the roots of his hatred for the surface world. In think my favorite scene with Namor was the scene he shares with Angela Bassett’s Queen Ramonda. When he threatens her, it is absolutely bone chilling, and as a viewer, you believe Namor will do what he threatens to do (and he eventually does). Tenoch Huerta played Namor with the same sort of conviction that Angela Bassett played Queen Ramonda within this film, and that’s what made Namor such a great antagonist! He meant everything that he said in this movie, and he believed everything that he said in this movie. There was no over-the-top posturing or hidden agenda with Namor. He simply would not tolerate a threat to his Kingdom or his people, and much like Killmonger in the first film, these things made Namor very difficult to root against. I’m so glad that Marvel Studios did not kill Namor off because I’m really excited to see more from this character moving forward in the MCU.
I next want to praise Dominique Thorne as Ironheart!
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
I thought she was incredible! Dominique, in many ways, filled the void that Letitia Wright used to fill as Shuri. She was defiant and she was rebellious. She was spunky and mouthy, and she was funny. She brought a lot of attitude to her role and she and Letitia Wright had great chemistry as well.
Hearing and seeing her upstart Ironheart suit actually served as quite the emotional moment for me. I don’t know, I was sitting there in the theater thinking of Chadwick Boseman and feeling sad and thinking about my late mother who was such a huge Black Panther fan and feeling sad, and then with Ironheart, I was thinking of Endgame and Tony Stark’s fictitious death, and I started feeling sad about that as well, but I really think Ironheart is going to be a very fun character, and with everyone putting together their “Young Avengers” dream team throughout Phase Five, I think Riri Williams needs to be included on that roster!
Next, I want to praise Lupita Nyong’o as Nakia.
Honestly, going into this movie, I was hoping to see Nakia become the new Black Panther. I’m not mad at all however that the Marvel Studios team went with Shuri, because again, Letitia Wright seized her opportunity and made a great Black Panther. I did like that Queen Ramonda went out and recruited Nakia and that her absence in the Battle of Earth was explained (she left Wakanda just prior to the Snap to raise her and T’Challa’s son in Haiti where he would be far away from the pressures and politics of the Wakandan Throne). I really enjoy Lupita Nyong’o as an actress and while I would have loved seeing her be given a little more to work with in this film, she played her part in the story perfectly.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Meanwhile, Danai Gurira was not only as good as ever as Okoye, but maybe better than she’s ever been! Again, I would have been fine with her being on the screen more, but when she was on the screen, she was phenomenal. Again, that scene with her and Queen Ramonda in which Okoye is demoted was incredibly powerful and well-acted. It may have been Danai Gurira’s finest MCU performance up to this point in fact. She too would have made a worthy new Black Panther, but I think we could see a lot of neat things moving forward from her as a member of the Midnight Angels.
Last but not least, I want to praise Winston Duke as M’Baku!
Yes, I would have liked to have seen more with him, and yes, he too would have made a really great new Black Panther, but the end of this film seemed to set up the potential for not only that, but for M’Baku becoming King of Wakanda! In this movie, Winston Duke was probably the funniest character. He had some great lines and some fun moments, but my favorite scene with him was his scene with Shuri where he is pushing for peace. That was just so well done, and Winston Duke really shined there! Winston Duke seems to have so many sides to his personality and this makes me really want to see him be given the opportunity to take center stage in one of these stories. Maybe that time is imminent!
In writing this review, I’m realizing that just about everyone that I have written about shared their best scenes with either Angela Bassett of Letitia Wright, and that is a testament to how so very good those women were in this film!
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Other things that I really liked were Talokan flooding Wakanda (straight out of the comics), Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine being revealed as the Director of the CIA (that sets up some really exciting potential things for The Thunderbolts), and the decision to keep the main heartbeat of this film as the Wakanda vs Talokan conflict. I was sort of fearing that a third party would become involved in the conflict at the end which would prompt a Wakanda and Talokan alliance, but that was held off for a future plot with the alliance between Wakanda and Talokan coming together in a much more interesting and satisfying way, with Shuri vowing to not allow herself to be consumed with vengeance and convincing Namor to do the same. This was a nice callback to T’Challa and Zemo in Civil War that really worked.
Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has sort of been all over the place. For some fans, this has been a good thing. For others, it has been kind of a mess. For me, what the Marvel Studios team have done in Phase Four is emphasize that (contrary to what a lot of people say) not all Marvel films and shows are the same. Since Spider-Man: Far From Home, the MCU formula has been tweaked and a lot of bold chances have been taken. With the end of Phase Three, Kevin Feige decided against resting on his laurels and has instead really pushed the envelope creatively and thematically. Some things have worked better than others, but for me, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was the MCU project that I’ve been waiting for! This year, especially.
Look, I love laughing and I enjoy comedy, and I liked Thor: Love and Thunder more than most people, and I liked Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness more than most people, but in evaluating the MCU projects that we’ve gotten this year, there have been a lot of silly, goofy, and campy elements to a lot of what we have seen. A strong emphasis has been put on comedy this year, and hey, I have enjoyed a lot of that, but it was really, really nice to watch an MCU film took itself seriously and an MCU film that was comfortable existing without the need for constant quips or levity.
My only real complaint about this film is the fact that I would have liked to have seen select characters get more screen time, but Wakanda Forever clocked in at just under three hours already, and me having my way would have meant that it would have been four hours long, so that is not something that I actually hold against the film.
That being said, I appreciated the fact that this film was almost three hours in length. The long run time allowed the movie to breathe and for the scenes and sequences and conversations that comprised this film to have time to be properly absorbed. I think both Thor: Love and Thunder and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness could have both been longer and I applaud Marvel Studios for giving Ryan Coogler the proper amount of time to tell his story.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
I cried A LOT during Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. This film is about coping with loss and the stages of grief, and it is sad at times, and it is heavy and deep, but at the same time, it is a beautiful celebration of life that puts an emphasis on the fact that the living must find a way to go on living even in the face of loss.
I believe this film is a triumph for Ryan Coogler that reflects his brilliance as a filmmaker and storyteller.
It sucks that we lost Chadwick Boseman. He left a void within the MCU that will never be filled, but Ryan Coogler proved that stories centered around Wakanda and all of these intriguing characters that he introduced us to in 2018 can continue to fuel the Marvel Cinematic Universe and even without Chadwick, can continue to deliver the power and the emotion that first film inspired.
The Black Panther will live on in the MCU and that’s a very beautiful thing!
Entering 2022, I was anticipating the releases of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Thor: Love and Thunder far more than Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, but as we near the end of this year, I have to say that Wakanda Forever was the superior film. I always like to watch Marvel movies and shows more than once before I officially rank them, but after one viewing, I believe that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is the best MCU movie of 2022, the best MCU movie of Phase 4, and a Top-10 all-time great MCU production.
This movie blew me away and I loved everything about it.
Highlights of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever:
Angela Bassett as Queen Ramonda
Letitia Wright as Shuri
Tenoch Huerta as Namor
Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams
Lupita Nyong’o as Nakia
Danai Gurira as Okoye
Winston Duke as M’Baku
Mabel Cadena as Namora
The Beauty of Talokan
Namor Flooding Wakanda
Water Bombs!
The Serious Approach to Storytelling that was Taken
Heart and Emotion
Costuming and Visuals
Music
Moving Tribute to Chadwick Boseman and all that he meant to the MCU
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Notable MCU Concepts and Characters Introduced:
Talokan. Namor. Namora. Attuma. CIA Director Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. Toussaint / T’Challa.
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