Directed by Ryan Coogler, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever follows Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Shuri (Letitia Wright), M’Baku (Winston Duke), Okoye (Danai Gurira), and the Dora Milaje (including Florence Kasumba) as they fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T’Challa’s (Chadwick Boseman) death. As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together and forge a new path for the kingdom of Wakanda while going up against the hidden undersea nation of Talokan ruled by Namor (Tenoch Huerta).
This film is the final theatrical release of the MCU’s Phase 4 and out of all the projects of the last two years, this was probably the most important one to be made, as well as the most challenging. Aside from pandemic production problems and other behind-the-scenes issues, the biggest challenge Ryan Coogler and his team had to deal with was the tragic loss of Chadwick Boseman, who was very much like family to them and truly made the role of T’Challa irreplaceable. Rather than recasting the character, Coogler and his team decided to move forward with the story without T’Challa but have the film dedicated as a tribute to both the character and the actor.
It was a massive task to undertake on top of everything else that was happening and yet Coogler was able to deliver a sequel that was truly beautiful and masterful in every single way. Wakanda Forever is a deeply layered story with high emotional stakes as well as a superhero thriller full of spectacular action sequences involving two powerful secluded nations colliding and changing the future of the MCU.
It is a massive epic with an emotional core and individual character arcs at its center, while also delivering the ultimate tribute to Boseman. The fact that Coogler and his team were able to accomplish so much all in one film is worth all of the mass praise, and out of all of Coogler’s past works this may just be the best film he’s ever done. Despite all the obstacles, this film delivers on its promises and truly shook me emotionally.
There are a lot of things people are going to take away from this film, especially when it comes to its characters who truly drive the film forward thanks to the cast’s performances and Coogler’s excellent writing. Each character endures their own personal arc in the film that connects the main story and many of them are in some way majorly impacted by T’Challa’s death, which is addressed in the film in a way that makes sense within the universe and respects Boseman personally.
The two characters who are easily impacted the most by his death and serve as some of the central characters of this film are Shuri (Letitia Wright) and Ramona (Angela Bassett). Shuri’s arc is one of grief and loss as she takes the leading role in the film and is given a beautiful yet heartbreaking performance by Letitia Wright. She perfectly portrays someone who carries great pain and even guilt over the loss of her brother, believing she could have done something to save him. The once bright and bubbly individual we were introduced to in the first film has become one full of internal anger and fragility as she takes on her brother’s legacy while also facing a new threat. In a way, parts of her story in this film parallel with T’Challa’s story in Captain America Civil War, which I found to be really investing.
Rivaling Wright’s emotional performance as Shuri is Angela Bassett’s outstanding performance as Queen Ramonda, who mourns the loss of her son while trying to keep Wakanda safe from multiple forces making their moves on her country and people. She is the heart of this film and is an absolute force to be reckoned with in this film with Basset giving a fiery passion of a performance that truly deserves serious recognition. Even though this is a similar supporting role like in the first film, Ramona feels more front and center in this film, having more to do in the story, and she was absolutely captivating in every scene she’s in and I’m so glad this character has much more presence this time.
Lupita Nyong’o’s return as Nakia is a welcome one as she brings great tenderness to the film along with investing action that is a major step up from her role in the first film. She feels more like a character rather than the old love interest, and just like Shuri and Ramona she too is on her own path of trying to deal with the loss of T’Challa. I can’t go into further detail about her development due to spoilers but she was just absolutely excellent in every way you can expect.
Once again the Dora Milaje make their return as the badass warriors we know and love who face off against new foes that end up rivaling them both in strength and skill. Okoye (Danai Gurira), Ayo (Florence Kasumba), and the newly introduced Aneka (Michaela Coel) lead the group and are given very dedicated performances by their respective actresses, showing both strength and weakness throughout the film as they prove their worth to their country and their people.
Winston Duke makes his return as the always lovable M’Baku who gets his own time to shine because of his performance and interactions with the cast. Having experienced the events of Infinity War and Endgame he is now a wiser and more seasoned warrior who provides counsel to Shuri. It’s a very interesting turn for the character and one that leads to a much larger development that is likely to change the course of Wakanda going forward. I’ll be looking at M’Baku’s future with great interest.
We have a number of new faces involved that brought so much to this film on top of what the returning characters give, and they really set up a lot for the MCU going forward.
The first new face is the primary antagonist of the film, Namor, played by Tenoch Huerta. Namor is the king of the newly introduced underwater civilization the Talokan who decides to get involved in the surface world after T’Challa publicly revealed the truth about Wakanda at the end of the first film, which consequently threatens his people and nation, leading Namor to take action to protect everything he loves. While Namor is most notably considered a hero in comics he is treated as a complex villain and antihero in this film and he is absolutely phenomenal.
Huerta delivers a powerful performance as a deeply rage-filled Namor, giving the character a major introduction that impacts the MCU in a massive way, giving us another compelling character and a powerful superhuman whose strength and powers are a grand threat to Wakanda and the rest of the world. We get to see and understand Namor’s motives firsthand in the film, diving deep into his past trauma and the trauma of his people which shows why he massively distrusts everyone on the surface world and why he desperately desires war against the world. He is fueled by vengeance, loss, and duty to his people, making him a character you can understand and feel invested in as well as making a perfect opposite to Shuri in this film as their arcs feel like two sides of the same coin.
And despite the massive changes that have been made to his character and his nation from comics, I absolutely loved this completely new take on the character as it is written perfectly and this new take makes him largely stand out among other comic book characters adapted to film, including Aquaman who for years as always been the subject of constant comparison. The Mesoamerican cultural influences for Namor and the nation of Talokan are done exceptionally well and respectfully, making for an interesting opposition to the African-influenced culture of Wakanda.
And given how much time we get to spend with both sides in the film you feel very absorbed in their conflict. Namor’s powers, formed as a result of being born a mutant, are accurately depicted and shown in brutal fashion, from his unique form of flight to his vicious inhuman strength that could potentially rival the strength of some of the most powerful characters currently in the MCU. Namor could be either the best ally or the worst enemy to anyone, it could truly go either way in the future, similar to wavering allegiances of his comic counterpart.
One of the biggest surprises of the film was the official MCU debut of Riri Williams aka Iron Heart, played spectacularly by Dominique Thorne. For a character I never really cared for that much in comics I was absolutely blown away by just how much I loved this performance and adaptation in this film and the early beginnings of her heroic journey. In a film that is largely mature in tone and contains characters enduring very emotional arcs, Riri Williams provides the perfect amount of levity that offers a breather between the dark emotional stakes. She has a lot of awesome moments in the film as well shares electrifying chemistry with the rest of the cast. Her prototype armors look amazing and match her personality in many ways, making her stand out from Iron Man and War Machine. She is set to have her own spin-off series on Disney plus and because of her incredible debut in this film I am much more excited for the show now.
And I’m just going to say this right now, anyone who thinks that any actor or actress in the MCU is just doing their performances for the paycheck is absolutely dead wrong, especially after all the performances given in this film. It’s clear that everyone is truly dedicated to their characters in this universe with every installment and that’s further proven here, especially given the fact this film was largely in tribute to a fellow cast member that they all considered as close family.
The story is an emotional character-driven powerhouse with deep themes and powerful human moments while also providing an exhilarating epic involving intense action, tension, and glorious visuals. From the very beginning, you could immediately tell the primary core and focus of this film are the characters, their emotions, their motives, and their relationships with T’Challa and each other. The film does add and explore new additions to the MCU but it never strays far from being the personal film that it was set to be, and because of that it remains impactful all the way through and adds so much more to the action and world-building.
The public reveal of Wakanda’s true nature, the events of Endgame, and the death of T’Challa all cause a major impact on the lives of the characters as well as the nation of Wakanda itself, which becomes a target to the Talokan and various governments of the world that are desperate for their resources, including Vibranium. With so much to tackle and address it’s truly a miracle that Coogler was able to handle it all so well and make it all fit together beautifully. Some big surprises are certainly going to get MCU fans going nuts though they never take away from the story and feel natural.
The action throughout the film is executed strongly and intensely, especially with the high emotional stakes that fuel it. It is a massive improvement compared to the first, both in terms of scale and more importantly visuals. One of the biggest criticisms most people, including myself, had for the first film was some of the unpolished effects, especially during the big third act.
It seems like Coogler took these criticisms to heart as he made sure the effects in this film, both practical and CGI, were as polished and perfect as can be, especially for the bigger action scenes and environments. Combined with stellar cinematography, this film easily triumphs in terms of beauty and technical elements, especially with some spectacular underwater sequences that have a unique visual flair.
Ludwig Göransson returns to score and he truly elevates the emotions of this film to grand heights with his music, alongside the additional soundtrack from multiple black artists. But I do love the moments of silence this film had where there was no music at all, allowing everything on screen to tell the story and deliver on its raw emotions.
This film hits hard and will relentlessly impact the hearts of all who watch it. Too many times I found myself tearing up way more than I had with any other MCU film. Maybe even more than Infinity War and Endgame. Where I really couldn’t hold back my tears was when it came to the film’s one and only mid-credit scene. It completely floored me emotionally as it gave us something truly beautiful to end the film on. Ryan Coogler, the cast, and the crew really did achieve the impossible together. They made a film that is dedicated to Chadwick Boseman carrying his spirit as well as telling an incredible, mature story of grief, loss, and recovery. I know that Boseman would be proud of this film, as am I. I’m going to give Black Panther: Wakanda Forever an A+ = 100.
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