Created by Todd Harris and produced by Ryan Coogler, Eyes of Wakanda follows the adventures of four brave Wakandan warriors in a globe-trotting anthology throughout history, where they must carry out dangerous missions to retrieve Vibranium artifacts from the enemies of Wakanda. They are the Hatut Zaraze, aka the War Dogs of Wakanda, and this is their story.
Amongst all the many factions to exist within the Marvel universe and its comics, the civilization and culture of Wakanda from the stories of Black Panther is rich with history that we only have had some brief explorations of in the MCU through the films Black Panther and Black Panther Wakanda Forever. This animated anthology series aims to further explore and flesh out the world of Wakanda through the perspective of their secret central intelligence agents in various points of history set within the sacred timeline of the MCU. With unique animation that is different from previous animated outings from Marvel and a premise full of immense potential, I was definitely interested to give this mini series a go to see what it could offer.
After watching all four episodes I am surprised to say that Eyes of Wakanda is a really great series that delivers four epic and compelling stories that are character driven, masterfully animated, and truly expand˜s upon the rich world of Wakanda that was first brought to us by Ryan Coogler. It’s a truly special series that deserved more episodes than it was given and feels like a truly worthy expansion to the realm of Black Panther that I can see many people enjoying especially those who are fans of the Black Panther films as well as Wakandan lore.
Since this is an anthology series I will break down each episode and not reveal any major spoilers for all of them.
The first episode “Into the Lion’s Den” takes place in Crete in 1260 B.C. and follows a disgraced former member of the Dora Milaje named Noni (Winnie Harlow) who is assigned to find and take down “The Lion”, a former Wakandan general-turned-pirate who has stolen advanced technology from the country and is using it establish tyrannical enslavement over civilizations he claims need to be ruled. This first episode starts the series off on a strong note establishing the premise and themes of all the episodes going forward while also delivering an exciting first story of its own through a badass and compelling character.
Through Noni’s deadly mission full of great risks and surprisingly graphic action we get re-introduced to the role of the Wakandan War Dogs in greater detail as well as explore several familiar themes from the Black Panther films, but shown through a different time period and with new characters. It’s fascinating, it’s engaging, and it immediately hooks you with its intense thrills, mature tone, and interesting perspective of Wakanda’s relationship to other cultures around the world. It all gets beautifully brought to life not only through incredible writing and animation but also incredible voice performances with Winnie Harlow giving a strong leading performance as Noni and Cress Williams giving a commanding and menacing performance as the fearsome Lion. It’s a bloody thrilling tale of redemption and burning down tyranny that introduces us to the secret beginnings of one of Wakanda’s earliest War Dogs that the world knows nothing about.
The second episode “Legends and Lies” follows the War Dog B’Kai (Larry Herron), who goes by the alias of Memnon, in an intense undercover mission to retrieve a vibranium artifact during the Siege of Troy leading him to fighting alongside the legendary Achilles (Adam Gold). The MCU is no stranger to bringing in comic adaptations of various real life mythologies in other projects but I certainly didn’t expect to see the Trojan War be included in the MCU and be portrayed in such amazing fashion through the perspective of a Wakandan War Dog. This second episode is a full on Greek epic that highlights the dark nature of the life of Wakandan War Dogs throughout history while also delivering a tragic story of friendship set in the backdrop of one most legendary wars from Greek mythology.
You feel the immense layers of emotion through the character of B’Kai, voiced amazingly by Larry Herron, as he is coming to terms with his life as War Dog being forced to deal with years of psychological trauma from his involvement in war and overwhelming guilt from the deception he is putting on with Achilles, who he has grown a close friendship with over time. All War Dogs clearly make many sacrifices for the kingdom of Wakanda in order to maintain secrecy and prevent their technology from ending up in the wrong hands and this story hugely highlights the great cost that comes with the job as they are forced to do whatever it takes to achieve their mission that results in unfortunate consequences. We have had various glimpses of how Wakanda’s history has been full of mistakes and morally questionable decisions but this episode hugely explores that theme in great detail that also connects to all episodes of this series in interesting ways.
The third episode “Lost and Found” follows a hubris filled War Dog Basha (Jacques Colimon) who’s reckless recovery of a Wakandan artifact from China in 1400 A.D. puts him face to face with another fierce warrior, the immortal Iron Fist (Jona Xiao), who’s raw power and elite skills are capable of overpowering even the Wakandans in their own home. This is a much more light hearted and humorous toned story compared to the first two episodes but damn it it’s so much fun with its great voice performances and some of the best animated action of the series especially with its inclusion of an Iron Fist, which was an unexpected crossover that ends up being greatly welcomed. It’s a short but thrilling action filled misadventure of a War Dog whose hubris and lack of appreciation for others gets him into serious trouble as well as results in him learning an important lesson.
Sure this episode isn’t as thematically deep or mature as the other episodes but it certainly has a lot of interesting elements to offer, especially when it shows a unique conflict of two warriors from two hidden nations with their own isolationist views. Additionally this episode proves the immense badass potential an Iron Fist can have in the MCU if adapted properly unlike Netflix’s previous poor attempts.
The fourth and final episode “The Last Panther” takes place in Ethiopia in 1896 and follows a War Dog named Kuda (Steve Toussaint) and a Wakandan prince named Tafari (Zeke Alton) whose recovery of a familiar vibranium artifact in dangerous territory takes an unexpected turn when they encounter a mysterious stranger who claims to be a Wakandan from the future warning them of an impending doom tied to the artifact they carry. This episode ends the series on a wild but awesome conclusion that is full of thrills and uniquely highlights the dangers of Wakanda’s isolationism from the world, which is a theme that was being established over the course of this series. It’s really hard to discuss what happens in this episode given all of the crazy surprises that occur in it as well as how it ends up having one wild connection to the first Black Panther film but I can say there are definitely some great themes that are explored in this episode through some greatly written and voiced characters, Kuda and Tafari.
Kuda is an authoritative warrior with heart and soul whose strong devotion to the cause leads to his principles sometimes outweighing his duty and therefore making him to feel conflicted over the haunting glimpse he gets of the future. On the other hand, Tafari is a young, naive and headstrong prince who believes they should listen to the warning from the future and bend the rules for once in order to protect Wakanda from what is to come if they don’t make a change now.
This finale was overall excellent but I would have loved to have seen more episodes build up to this one since I feel it could have added way more of an impact with its themes and surprises if it was a larger culmination of everything that came before.
Marvel Studios has been venturing into different styles of animation from What If…? to X-Men 97 to Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and once again we get to see them explore another new style of animation with Eyes of Wakanda. The animation of this series is breathtakingly beautiful, feeling like a harmonious mixture of a water painting come to life, the gorgeous visuals of Coogler’s Black Panther films, and even various elements of older Dreamworks animated films like Prince of Egypt presented in a 3D format. Every frame of the cinematography in the series oozes with jaw-dropping beauty that was addictive to look at and moves with wonderful fluidity, especially in some of the epic action sequences that get put on full display. There’s even a unique animation style given to the intro of this series, which gave me absolute chills the first time I saw it and truly cemented the unique visual identity of this series compared to everything else that has come before.
Paired with all of this beauty is a fantastic score by composer Hesham Nazih, who some may know for his amazing work in Moon Knight. He creates such epic music for this series that feels nearly on the same level as Ludwig Göransson’s masterful music from the Black Panther films, and further makes this spinoff series feel like a true part of that world.
While I firmly believe it should have been much longer than four episodes, this is still a worthy series to watch, especially for people who have loved the realm of Wakanda in the MCU and have wanted to see further exploration of its rich history. It is a unique animated entry that I think will gain quite a following if enough people give it a chance. I’m going to give Eyes of Wakanda an A- = 93.
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