Review of
This article contains spoilers for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever!
As most people know, the sequel for Black Panther was released on November 11th. Titled Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, this film is one of the best to reach screens. The entire film is dedicated to Chadwick Boseman, the beloved actor who played T’Challa, Black Panther and King of Wakanda, and who died in August 2020. This movie is an impeccable tribute to the late actor, while also doing good for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Not only that: the movie is literally beautiful in every way. The CGI, characters, writing, plot, and development did not fall short.
As most people know, the sequel for Black Panther was released on November 11th. Titled Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, this film is one of the best to reach screens. The entire film is dedicated to Chadwick Boseman, the beloved actor who played T’Challa, Black Panther and King of Wakanda, and who died in August 2020. This movie is an impeccable tribute to the late actor, while also doing good for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Not only that: the movie is literally beautiful in every way. The CGI, characters, writing, plot, and development did not fall short.
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I’ll try to summarize the movie the best I can with minimal spoilers: Wakanda Forever follows Shuri, T’Challa’s younger sister, through her grief following her older brother’s passing. There are many different nations attempting to steal Wakanda’s vibranium during their time of mourning; however, they also are attempting to find vibranium outside of Wakanda. There is another country called Talokan, a completely underwater world, that also has vibranium. The leader of Talokan, Namor, is the main antagonist in the story. |
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Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is one of the most heart wrenching films in the MCU to date. Not only is one of the main themes grief, but also generational trauma and systematic racism. Shuri, Okoye, Nakia, and Queen Ramonda all grieve T’Challa’s death differently. But no matter what, they come together to protect their country.
Talokan and her people are heavily inspired by the Mayans, an indigenous group to Mexico. As many know, colonizers brought death and despair to the indigenous people of North America. This generational trauma translates over to Talokan and is the reason its people escaped to the depths of the ocean: it was the only place they could live safely. Because of this, Shuri and Namor have much in common, what with having to hide from the world in order to survive. These similarities spark empathy between the two, not just conflict. The conversations between the two leaders are beautiful, well-worded, and show the strength of both nations.
The most important part of the movie, in my opinion, is the systemic racism. The people in power, a vast majority being white, have always tried to take resources from BIPOC, and this is shown through Wakanda. The entire reason the nation of Wakanda hid her true self from the world is to avoid theft and to preserve the beauty and power of vibranium. Talokan, also under attack by this greed because they harbor vibranium, is terrified that their world will be destroyed in the search; it’s happened before in history, why wouldn’t it happen again? Because of this fear of looming powers, there is conflict between Wakanda and Talokan. But this conflict hurts both parties. These disputes cause people of color to clash against each other instead of banding together against the common enemy: the system. This is exactly what happens in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever: Talokan and Wakanda go to war, but Shuri eventually decides that nothing is worth destroying a nation that is so similar to Wakanda in so many ways.
The most important part of the movie, in my opinion, is the systemic racism. The people in power, a vast majority being white, have always tried to take resources from BIPOC, and this is shown through Wakanda. The entire reason the nation of Wakanda hid her true self from the world is to avoid theft and to preserve the beauty and power of vibranium. Talokan, also under attack by this greed because they harbor vibranium, is terrified that their world will be destroyed in the search; it’s happened before in history, why wouldn’t it happen again? Because of this fear of looming powers, there is conflict between Wakanda and Talokan. But this conflict hurts both parties. These disputes cause people of color to clash against each other instead of banding together against the common enemy: the system. This is exactly what happens in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever: Talokan and Wakanda go to war, but Shuri eventually decides that nothing is worth destroying a nation that is so similar to Wakanda in so many ways.
All in all, this movie is a masterpiece and is an amazing finale to Phase 4. Not only that, but the underlying messages of togetherness, recovery from grief, and many other important themes make this movie a must-see. And make sure you wait for the end-credit scene, it’s caused more than one tear to shed.
MInali Brosnan
