It’s a thrilling blockbuster that still makes time for grief.
Making a sequel to a cultural sensation is a challenge to begin with. But the task facing Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Ryan Coogler’s much-anticipated follow-up to the 2018 hit Black Panther, is many leagues more daunting. It has to build upon its fantastic forebear and fit into the unwieldy Marvel Cinematic Universe, all without the commanding presence of Black Panther’s star Chadwick Boseman, who died in 2020. On top of that, it has to function as a worthy memorial, letting characters grieve the passing of the character T’Challa and giving viewers the space to grapple with Boseman’s absence.
Oh, and let’s not forget that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever also has to be a crowd-pleasing blockbuster, which I’m happy to report it is. Although the sequel’s running time is more sprawling and its narrative goals more diffuse than its predecessor’s, it shares the same strengths. Wakanda Forever is fueled by intricate world-building, stunningly designed sets and costumes, and an interest in the geopolitical implications of superheroism that’s far more nuanced than most Marvel movies allow.
The first Black Panther delves into the nation of Wakanda, a mythical, high-tech African utopia powered by the magic metal Vibranium, which is mined only within its closed borders. Wakanda’s king, T’Challa, is simultaneously the country’s ruler and prime defender, granted magical powers by a mysterious herb and decked out in a spiffy armored suit. His main adversary is his cousin Erik Killmonger (played by Michael B. Jordan), an exile who wants to use Wakanda’s technology to battle the world’s colonizers and enslavers. T’Challa resists his methods but acknowledges the limitations of an isolated Wakanda; he takes the country public, as it were.
Wakanda Forever is set several years later (and after many Marvel shenanigans).
