I suppose it’s a lukewarm take by now, but 2016’s Black Panther is massively overrated. Wakanda is secretly the richest country in the real world, and we are supposed to overlook that they don’t help their own with poverty, violence, and famine in Africa without explanation. Wakanda is also the most technologically advanced society on the planet, yet they elect their leader with fights to the death, and our ‘heroes’ cry foul when their champion is not victorious – play stupid games, you win stupid prizes, I reckon. After T’Challa’s terrific introduction in Captain America: Civil War, I was keen for Black Panther, but the movie undoes his headstrong leadership by having him unsure how to be King, and deciding to keep Wakanda a secret after witnessing the Avengers ripped apart. I thought the events of ‘Civil War would be justification, an inspiration, for T’Challa to challenge his people opposing exposing Wakanda to the wide world… but we sort’ve had to agree with the villain, Killmonger, for that. By the time T’Challa does offer Wakanda’s honest alliance to the world, I felt like I’m the bigger hero, because I would’ve done it around a runtime of two hours ago. The movie also somehow muddled how T’Challa could become the Black Panther in the previous movie, without the ritual, and centered its story around the mistakes made by the previous King, as if every Thor movie hadn’t already done that before – from keeping Loki’s adoption hidden, to keeping the destructive Hela a secret. And now T’Challa is gone – Chadwick Boseman passed away between movies and Marvel have decided not to recast, but move in another direction again. Looking at this trailer, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever looks unmistakably exquisite, but that’s not where my doubts come into it. It’ll be the story and character that’ll need to hit the mark to make me fervent.
The King is dead! Taken down by an undisclosed sickness, Shuri (Letitia Wright) blames herself for failing to find a cure. And meanwhile, the world powers seek any opportunity to get their hands on the mighty metal, vibranium. The CIA hold a deep-sea expedition, and evoke the wrath of Talokan – an ancient hidden underwater civilisation with superstrength and advanced combat skills. They blame Wakanda for allowing the world to know about vibranium, and challenge them to help assure they are never bothered again. Their leader, Namor (Tenoch Huerta), also yields a resentment of the surface world, wishing to destroy them, but Wakanda promotes peace, especially at this difficult juncture. Since Killmonger burnt all the ‘heart-shaped herb’ in the previous movie, there is no course of action to replicate the powers of the Black Panther, no optimistic horizon to replace King T’Challa.
Well, I’m sure everyone can be glad that we have a Black Panther movie that I can get behind. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever doesn’t feel like a traditional superhero movie, as it has no true main focal character, playing like a TV series, until the very end, and I’m okay with that. The entire returning cast from Black Panther brings it, and I can only hypothesise it’s because they were inspired by the good fortune to be returning, and the sad absence of Chadwick Boseman. The movie completes with a tribute to ‘our friend’ the fallen star, and begins with a silent and touching tribute to Boseman using the Marvel Logo. I would bet the set wanted to provide their best work and it shows. Danai Gurira has always just ‘been there’ in the MCU for me, despite probably playing my favourite character on The Walking Dead, until today – Okoye’s tenacity and love for her responsibility as the General of Wakanda’s Special Forces had me adoring her presence. Angela Bassett is better than terrific, with one big speech that had my spine tingling. Winston Duke also accepts a larger role, and carries on as the wise disagreeable leader from the mountains, with a sweeter connection to his countrymen, and offers guidance to Shuri. And Letitia Wright; although I’d probably prefer Lupita Nyong’o’s Nakia in that Black Panther suit, Shuri was always the obvious choice, with royal blood, and the movie does a great job of staggering the process, giving Shuri an arch to work her way into the new capacity as Wakanda’s protector, if you can stand the runtime.
But talented cast aside, most importantly, despite a few bumps, there’s not much to criticize in the way of story. Namor and his people are equally beautiful and menacing, and their first introduction to the MCU is frightening. It’s commendable how different the Talokans looks to the Atlanteans in Aquaman, incorporating Marvel’s colour and Mayan culture to great effect, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will be praised for its underwater technical achievements. This movie has expanded its scope from the first movie, and comes across like an epic, well-handled and inviting. I like how it’s able to balance the geopolitical component of the story too, alongside the main threat of two warring tribes flexing their might – I mightn’t have liked how we got there in the last movie, with T’Challa announcing Wakanda to the world, but I do appreciate that we are there now, and how Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett) has to handle the fallout of handshakes with the UN that she wouldn’t have made. Wakanda can also feel the squeeze, of not being permitted to expose this new underwater society to the world, but facing blame for their actions.
But there are bumps, which mostly can be explained by Marvel fatigue. Since Avengers: Endgame, Marvel has spun off exponentially, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever introduces a new society, new abilities, and weaponry, to wrap our head around – I must admit, my enthusiasm is not what it used to be. There’s also a 19-year-old genius designing Iron Man suits to accept, Riri Williams (Dominque Thorne), and while she’s got charismatic pep, I couldn’t stop wondering why Wakanda were the first to come for her talents, and how she’s so intelligent without trade-off, perhaps socially, like Sheldon in The Big Bang Theory. We’ve had super-geniuses in the MCU before, like Shuri, but she grew up in the vibranium-rich culture, and Tony Stark, who was an adult, and disconnected from wider society in his own wealthy cushioned way – dare I say, if I think about Riri too long, I might realise she’s a cardboard cutout. And we’ve had some great costume designs throughout a very privileged run with the MCU, but the ‘Midnight Angel’ suits worn by Okoye and Aneka (Michaela Coel) are awful, reminding me of some ninja warrior machine from Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers. Shuri, perhaps you should’ve taken Okoye’s criticism on board in the design phase.
Ryan Coogler’s directions seems more intimate too, incorporating defining close-in framing and tracking shots, focusing more on the characters and performances, but not neglecting the colourful locations when necessary. I haven’t written much towards Namor and his villainous plans because they are basically vengeful – Namor is fun to look at though, with his ankle wings and nose-bolt. Since the Talokans don’t care about appeasing the decency of the surface world, I cannot understand why Namor didn’t instruct his people to murder Riri while he took Shuri on an undercity tour – and I look to the YouTube channel ‘How It Should’ve Ended’ to see if they come up with the same idea. I know Namor is a prominent character in the Marvel comics, but there were times in this movie where I wasn’t sure if he would live on or perish, although I’m not surprised that there will be more Namor to come.
Gosh, I also wanted to make a snide remark questioning why nobody in Wakanda challenged the Queen or Princess to a battle off the cliff for the throne (even I reckon I could edge Shuri in hand-to-hand combat), but since I liked the movie, I’m too humbled for that. I was swept away by the colour and the nobility of the cast to produce a fantastic and expert sequel on the heal of the first movie’s success. I suppose my biggest cavil is, where did Lake Bell go? I was giddy when she made her Marvel debut, only to be washed away after one thrilling encounter. Hopefully, and surely not.
4.5
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