When Chadwick Boseman died of colon cancer in 2020, writer/director Ryan Coogler had already spent a year writing the script for Black Panther 2, now titled "Wakanda Forever." I can only imagine a world crumbling. An actor whose unlimited potential was touched for a mere moment when he graced the MCU with his imposing (albeit understated) presence in Captain America: Civil War as T'Challa, AKA the Black Panther. While the first film was a cultural phenomenon and a sequel was all but guaranteed after the first box office receipts, his death now had implications across an entire spectrum of projects (most of which would be MCU ones), something that both us, the fans of his work, and the people around him had to process.
So, Ryan made a film about grief.
Collective grief, that is.
For every character that crossed paths with T'Challa, who happens to be in this movie, there are a few newer faces that are both affected by Boseman's untimely passing and driven by it.
Ryan's cinematic eulogy is an entirely heartfelt spectacle devoted to the remembrance of a king that was taken too soon...
Leticia Wright's Shuri bears the weight of the entire Wakandan nation as they patiently wait for the girl against tradition to take on a traditional role as the chosen protector of the isolated nation - a problem exacerbated by Michael B. Jordan's Killmonger's legacy from the first film. Without a way to become the Black Panther, Shuri and Queen Ramonda (the scene stealing gravitas force of nature that is Angela Bassett) are forced to keep the world at bay from trying to invade their nation for the riches of the precious metal vibranium.
The second act of the movie is almost entirely given to our two newcomers: Riri Williams (the future Ironheart, and Tony Stark's legacy) and Prince Namor. Namor, a Captain America/Fantastic Four baddie (and sometimes honorary X-Men team member) who is recontextualized here as a mesoamerican native and victim of the Spanish colonization of South America, whose abilities are attributed to some sort of mutation. Tenoch Huerta Mejías' King Namor can breathe underwater, fly (with his silly and aesthetically intact ankle wings, straight from the comics!), and has superhuman strength - putting him up there with Thor as one of the MCU's heavyweights.
Dominique Thorne's portrayal of Riri doesn't fare as well, due to her scenes mostly relying on the "fish out of water" scenarios that she keeps finding herself in. While she'll no doubt be a great Young Avenger in her future series, her only real positives are that her street-smart sense of humor and tech know-how will be invaluable in the conflicts to come.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Martin Freeman get some screentime as the bumbling "colonizers" that help (with a side of betrayal) the Wakandan nation behind the scenes but serve mostly as narrative expositions for the future Dark Avengers that may sprout from the rest of the MCU's loose ends.
The film mostly works when it is honed in on the duality of Namor and Shuri - two leaders of nations on the precipice of war due to outsiders' desire for their resources. A tale that's all too similar between the fiction presented in the film and its very real life basis of Namor's origins. While serving as an antagonist (but never truly a villain like Thanos and Loki) to Shuri, he serves as a secondary audience surrogate and a guide to Shuri's path toward leading her people as the Black Panther - which comes to a head in the film's explosive climax.
Although firm and steady when dealing with the characters' grief over T'Challa's absence, the bloat of characters (the Dora Milaje, M'Baku, Namora, etc.) made the film feel clumsy until its final ace in the hole. Ryan's cinematic eulogy is an entirely heartfelt spectacle devoted to the remembrance of a king that was taken too soon - but the promise of a T'Challa that will, inevitably, return to the throne of Wakanda from the shores of Haiti.
"Imperius Rex."
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ (4.75/5)
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