The endless slew of Marvel content sees the final entry for this particular year, and it’s one that many have been anticipating since the sudden death of Chadwick Boseman. I, myself, have had a long history with the Black Panther character, having loved many of the comics and always looking forward to his rare cameo in the various animated Marvel shows of the nineties. As the years had gone on, my mind always turned to the possibility of a Black Panther movie. I was completely perplexed at this idea that Hollywood simply wouldn’t want a leading black superhero, totally unaware that this was still a problem in the 21st century. I was ecstatic to see them finally go through with the character. When Boseman was cast, he didn’t exactly stack up to what I envisioned as the character from the comics, but his performance in Civil War soon put that fear to rest. I was in love with the first movie, riding on the highs of the positive reactions and finally getting one my favorite heroes on the big screen. Time did lead me to turn around on the film, however, and I have since branded it a mid-tier Marvel film. This does not take away from the monumental impact it had on the black community, and I can’t help but admire what it’s done for representation.
With my opinions souring on the film over time, my hopes for the sequel weren’t too high. Boseman’s death and Marvel’s refusal to recast had me worried about the state of the film. While I do love Boseman’s portrayal and always felt that this would lead to an empty atmosphere, even with a different actor, there was this worry that the film would suffer from a narrative perspective. Perhaps it was this constant lowering of expectations or the sentiment towards Boseman’s legacy, but there was something about this film that had me attached all throughout the film. With so much riding on this risk-taking venture, I do feel that it managed to defy much of that apprehension. It takes death as an idea and weaves a story around that. In one of the most maturely-written Marvel films out there, this is Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
The film starts so starkly, showing a panic-stricken Shuri (Letitia Wright) desperately trying to save her brother from a hidden illness, trying to replicate the heart-shaped herb that once saved his life. Failing to do so, we see the nation of Wakanda mourning f the death of their king. A year advances and we see the nation now ruled by T’Challa’s mother, Ramonda (Angela Bassett), who is trying to prevent others nations from using their precious vibranium for destructive purposes. Meanwhile, the still-grieving Shuri works on developing more tech for the nation, refusing to accept the responsibility of adopting the Black Panther mantle. With Shuri and Ramonda on opposite views over the traditions that sweep over the nation, a new threat pervades them.Deep from the oceans, an amphibious man by the name of Namor (Tenoch Huerta) threatens to destroy Wakanda after Americans try to scour the oceans for more vibranium. Namor has ruled over the deep ocean for many centuries, remaining just as hidden as Wakanda once did. Namor implores Shuri and Ramonda to find the scientist who created the machine that located the vibranium so that he can kill them. Shuri and her head soldier, Okoye (Danai Gurira) set out to find this scientist, only to discover she is a nineteen year-old student by the name of Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), a prodigy in engineering who has developed a familiar looking suit. Wanting to protect the young scientist, Shuri hopes to negotiate with Namor, who wants much more than to kill a single scientist.
I think it’s best to start by calming the fears of those who are apprehensive over the lack of T’Challa. As I said before, this was a fear of my own, wondering how they would tell a continuing story without the Black Panther. As the synopsis suggests, the direction focuses more on Shuri and her own journey of grief and acceptance. From the moment we are introduced to Shuri in that first Black Panther movie, you always got the sense that she was being propped up to be a potential successor to T’Challa, but not until the far future. This film plays on that rushed obligation in a surprisingly meta way. Something truly admirable about this film is how interwoven the real-world events are into the film. Boseman’s death becomes the groundwork for the film’s conflict, and at its center is Shuri.Shuri really is the strength of this film. Being highly elevated from that sarcastic, but charmingly witty, know-it-all from the first film, her dramatic turn into maturing into the person she would’ve become over more films felt very natural. You can see how much she struggles to balance her usual attitude with the intense sadness she feels over her brother, feeling responsible for his death. Say what you will about Wright’s problematic personality in real life, she makes Shuri such a complex character through simple emotions and through an aggressive unpredictability. That conflict is so strong, with her denouncing much of the spirituality that surrounds Wakanda and her refusal to put her science aside for the sake of following in her brother’s footsteps.
I simply loved how Shuri’s story progressed. While it can feel predictable, her slow journey towards acceptance is still very strong. Shuri trying to behave like the princess she is leads to some morally complex scenarios. Her fascination with Namor’s world and wanting to prevent a war with said world echoes that of her brother’s conflict with Killmonger in the first film. I liked the subtle parallels her story had to T’Challa. Without even realizing it, she is following in the same footsteps as her brother.There’s some obvious commentary on the real-life events of Boseman’s passing. So much is riding on Letitia Wright to step in to the rather large shoes of such a beloved actor. The character of the Black Panther has become synonymous with black culture, so the pressure of someone taking on that role is immense. I can imagine that Wright herself felt the same anxiety and sense of denial that Shuri goes through. The film does such an eloquent job of easing the audience into the idea, letting the characters speak for the general public. Shuri’s anger and disappointment with herself was the strongest part of the film, tackling some rather introspective ideas in such a widely-palatable franchise.
With how heavily the first film spoke to the political climate of the late 2010’s, this film gears that up substantially. At the heart of this political commentary is Queen Ramonda, a character from the first film with very little appeal that absolutely steals the show this time around. Caught between her duties to stop foreign nations from using their rare metal for nefarious purposes and trying to be there for her daughter, Ramonda is given a worlds-worth of weight to carry.Angela Bassett deserves full credit for conveying much of that struggle. Her passionate dismissal of countries that have a history of colonization and how desperately she tries to continue the precedent set in place by her late son comes so heavily from Bassett’s dedication to the role. She manages to show so much internal conflict in a very visual way, a contrast to Shuri’s internalization, and you feel every struggle in each word she says. There’s a moment halfway through the film where Shuri is put into danger. Ramondoa’s vicious rant about how she has lost everyone close to her was octaves above the speeches found in similar Marvel movies.
So much of this portrayal plays back into the meta commentary over Boseman’s death. Ramonda represents that need to move forward, but as is the case in all periods of mourning, that presence of what came before will always remain. The franchise is now standing on the shoulders of people who were only secondary characters. If our main character is emotionally conflicted, then we need a comfort to keep us optimistic, that is why Ramonda is such a strong character. Her defiance in how she handles both the politics of the world and trying so hard to neutralize the threat of Namor and his people is so admirable. Your mind cannot help but turn to T’Challa and how he would’ve handled the conflict.There’s also much that comes from how other characters are show to grieve. Okoye’s regret over how she was forced to side with Killmonger in the first film when she considered T’Challa more than a king was great. There’s a fantastic moment where she and Ramonda dispute and you feel that deep emotion she’s suffering. The return of Nakia was great as well. As a former lover of T’Challa, it is interesting to see how she copes with the loss. Though she comes in quite late, there is a strong emotion from her pain. Her becoming a part of the group in the second half was simply brilliant.
There are many side characters that get their moments in the spotlight. One major Highlight was M’Baku. I worried that we were going to run into the problem of him being too comedic, similar to how they doubled down on Drax’s comedy in the second Guardians of the Galaxy film, but he’s perfectly balanced. While I do appreciate how strongly written Shuri is, I wouldn’t have minded if M’Baku had taken up the mantle.
In a lot of ways, Namor had some rather big shoes to fill as the lead villain. Many fell in love with Killmonger in that first film. By far one of the strongest villains in the MCU, it was going to be difficult. With the legacy that this particular character carries, it was exciting to see what they would do.While I’ve never gravitated towards Namor in the comics as much as I have Black Panther, I’ve always been fascinated with him. For those who are unaware Namor was one of Marvel’s earliest heroes, debuting around the same time as Captain America. His allegiance fluctuated between good and evil, being someone who exists in the middle of the spectrum. Film studios have been trying to kick Namor into gear for some time now, and now that he has made his appearance, I can say that I wholly satisfied with this debut.
I think this film perfectly captures the insanity of the character. Much like Killmonger, there’s a complexity to his motivation: you understand his intentions but you disagree with methods. I loved the complete dissonance he has with the humans of the world, only viewing them as colonizers and murderers. Once you see the utopia he has built for his people, you understand why he wants to protect it so much. The backstory was perfect as well. A re-invention of his comic origins, there’s so much more depth to his persona. His personality shifts around so much, even sharing moments of genuine solidarity with Shuri. You see this softer side to him that is so bogged down by his history-woven perception. The moments where he’ll make rather disturbing statements with such impassiveness were surprisingly disturbing.I thought the choice to reinvent the character as being of Mayan decent was brilliant. It makes the comparisons to the Wakandans feel much stronger. Huerta’s performance and Mexican background helped broaden the character into being this allegorical ‘what if’ idea that worked well against T’Challa’s own fears. There’s a great moment, late into the film, where his emotional apathy is stronger than ever, making you despise and fear the character that much more. You understand Shuri’s rage in that moment more than ever, and he is at the heart of it.
Even just from a basic, entertaining level, Namor was excetuted wonderfully. He and his people are simply cool to look at, using their water powers creatively. Namor, especially, gets a plethora of exciting moments, even when he’s flying around with his winged heels. This was a worry, as I thought it was a rather bold choice to keep this element from the comics. Luckily, this never felt too silly, it often lead to some exhilarating action. It could look a little hokey at times, but it mostly kept a continuous flow and never took away from the more imposing scenes.
I’ve spoken quite proudly of this film, but that isn’t to say that I don’t have my gripes. While I do think the story is incredibly strong, there is much that I feel bloats this film more than it should. One major point is the addition of Riri Williams. I don’t have a problem with the character, she’s a fun addition and I like the various parallels to Tony Stark, but she serves no purpose in the grander plot. Namor’s reasoning for wanting to kill her isn’t developed much and the solutions the writers have is to quickly turn in the direction of all-out war. Riri’s addition feels like nothing more than one major ad for her upcoming Disney+ series and it makes her whole character feel like a cynical cashgrab. She still gets plenty of great moments; I was especially entertained by her “poor man’s” Iron Man suit. She gets plenty of good jokes and her interactions with Shuri and Okoye brought a lot of energy, but I feel that you could cut her and nothing would really change.I also neglected to mention the return of Martin Freeman’s Everett Ross. He has this whole subplot where he has to keep his interaction with the Wakandans a secret as to not let the other nations know of Namor and his existence at the expense of a possible war. It does add some extra weight to the more political side of the film, but it largely contributes nothing. It felt as though they were mostly shoving Freeman into the film because of how prevalent he was in the first. Alongside him is a character that is only there to set up the Thunderbolts movie. Fun as that character is, I could’ve done without her.
There is some minor problems I have with the CGI. A common point of contention with the first film and with more recent Marvel films is the ugly, low-budget look of the effects. These weren’t so bad early in the film, but the second half is chocked full of ugly-looking CGI. I don’t usually get hung up on this aspect of films, but when the final act looks like something out of a PS2 game, I really need to question why Marvel would allow such rushed animation to make it into a big studio film.Compensating for the terrible CGI is some fantastic and exhilarating action. So much of the physical conflict and the world being built around the characters is still very strong. I liked much of the final fight and how creatively its executed, but it’s the bridge fight scene that stands out for me. It works nicely against the varied backdrops. Though there are no actions scenes in this particular location, the underwater city is a joy to see.
This sequel to Black Panther was always going to ride on high shoulders. Boseman’s lack of presence is certainly felt, but that isn’t to say that the legacy being continued isn’t strong. It’s a surprisingly mature story within this MCU bubble that takes Boseman’s death and teaches its audience that it’s possible to move on without besmirching the legacy. For me, it’s miles ahead of the first film, balancing strong melodrama with that ever-present humor that these films typically don’t know how to balance. Shuri’s journey is strong and and gut-wrenching all the same. There were moments that left my jaw dropping and I almost choked up by the end. In a lot of ways, I think Boseman would’ve been happy with how this film turned out. It has some beautiful moments of cinematography (a distinction for the uniformity of these films) and soundtrack is perfect. There are some problems here and there, and I don’t know if I’ll turn around on this the same way I did the first, but for now, I thought this was one of the best entries to the MCU. Check it out.Side note: Why did Letitia Wright have to be an anti-vaxxer? Separating the art from the artist is always such a hard thing to do, especially when you like the character so much.
Written review by C. Johnson.