'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' Review: Thoughtful Tribute to Chadwick Boseman Soars Beyond the MCU
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
PG-13: Some language, sexual references, and drug use
Runtime: 2 Hours and 45 Minutes
Production Companies: Marvel Studios
Distributor: Walt Disney Motion Pictures
Director: Ryan Coogler
Writers: Ryan Coogler, Joe Robert Cole
Cast: Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, Dominique Thorne, Florence Kasumba, Michaela Coel, Tenoch Huerta, Martin Freeman, Angela Bassett
Release Date: November 11, 2022
In Theaters Only
In Marvel Studios’ “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Shuri (Letitia Wright), M’Baku (Winston Duke), Okoye (Danai Gurira) and the Dora Milaje (including Florence Kasumba) fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T’Challa’s death. As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with the help of War Dog Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) and Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) and forge a new path for the kingdom of Wakanda.
Saying that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was my most highly-anticipated movie of 2022 is an understatement. At first, my excitement stemmed from Coogler and his team continuing Wakanda’s story after Chadwick Boseman’s passing. After losing my dad earlier this year—and experiencing deep grief for the first time in my life—Wakanda Forever was the movie I had to live for. Relating to the pain the cast and crew felt over the loss of a beloved person was going to be a form of solace.
Wakanda Forever’s cold open canonically says farewell to Chadwick/T’Challa with grace and thoughtfulness. Coogler and his team crafted a profound Wakandan funeral set piece, allowing everyone to say goodbye. If you ever shed a tear during a Pixar film, prepare to do that tenfold within the first dozen minutes of this film, for you will be surrounded by a symphony of sniffles. The way Chadwick is honored—from the funeral to the special Marvel logo they made just for him—is a thing of beauty, unlike anything I’ve seen in cinema. Thankfully, Coogler doesn’t take the exploitative CGI/Harold Ramis route that made audiences cringe during Ghostbusters: Afterlife.
Surviving family members Shuri (Letitia Wright) and Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett) are faced with new responsibilities while handling their grief. Shuri tries to restore the heart-shaped herb plant that Killmonger destroyed while refusing to believe that the Black Panther mantle can be restored. Meanwhile, Ramonda is under pressure at UN meetings to share Wakanda’s Vibranium resources, as T’Challa had promised during the mid-credits sequence of Black Panther. A Vibranium detector made by MIT student Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) leads the CIA to a new source of Vibranium underwater. Alas, they discover Talokan, helmed by King Namor (Tenoch Huerta) and his breed of blue underwater zombies. After defending his kingdom and wrecking the invaders, Namor points his finger at Wakanda, forcing Ramonda and Shuri to assist in his search for Williams. Failure to comply means war.
Unlike the majority of the MCU’s phase four movies, Wakanda Forever is focused on being a direct sequel to its predecessor above all else. The “blip” and Thanos are never mentioned as everything pertains completely to the events of the previous movie, making it as self-contained as possible. Now that the women have the torch to run the show, screenwriters Joe Robert Cole and Ryan Coogler do their damnedest to continue the themes from Black Panther and provide complexity to their characters, particularly Ramonda, Shuri, Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), and Okoye (Danai Gurira). With each character that is reintroduced and explored, the film becomes a heartfelt homecoming, like seeing beloved family members on Thanksgiving.
Ruth Carter's costume designs for the Wakandans and Talokanil are a phenomenal sight to behold. The African and Mesoamerican influences in their superhero attire are so rich. Something as simple as Okoye wearing a tracksuit with Dora Milaje’s color palette had me cocking my head and saying, “Ooh girl! The fit, though.” Wakanda is still as gorgeous as ever and Coogler’s vision of it is on display, leaving you breathless. The lighting in the underwater city of Talokan would have benefited from less realism to pop as much as the surface world, but in terms of VFX, it’s well executed. Coogler heard everyone (rightfully) clowning the last movie’s CGI and now, in a sea of MCU movies that suffer from terrible CGI, Wakanda Forever stands out as the cream of the crop.
Amid this war tale, Ramonda and Shuri’s relationship is the emotional centerpiece. Shuri is given the most heft with a resonant coming-of-age arc that blurs the line between an MCU movie and a genuine action-drama. Shuri’s journey retreads character beats within the Black Panther stories of T’Challa and N'Jadaka (Michael B. Jordan) and their handling of grief. But the naturalism of Letitia Wright’s chilling performance easily makes her the most interesting character who has dealt with these themes.
The entire ensemble pours their soul into their performances. Angela Bassett is a godsend who puts her whole heart on display onscreen. Lupita Nyong’o brings care and warmth to Nakia this time around and also uses her Mexican heritage as a special party trick within the story. Danai Gurira deserves a spin-off because she exudes fiery charisma and strength, along with a surprising vulnerability to Okoye. Newcomer Dominique Thorne provides spunk and confidence, making Riri Williams a solid addition to the MCU. Tenoch Huerta is as charismatic as he is menacing as the antagonistic Feathered Serpent god.
Wakanda Forever attempts to continue the predecessor’s story of resource warfare regarding Vibranium while creating multicultural historical events as a means to drive the antagonists. I love Tenoch Huerta’s presence and Nemor is a menacing foe for Wakanda. That said, his vengeance towards the surface world feels similar to Killmonger’s motivation. Outside of his Mesoamerican background and abilities, he’s not that enticing of a foe and his conflict feels forced. Much like America Chavez in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Mid-ness, Riri Williams is a MacGuffin. Most of the conflict hinders on her being alive as she’s hunted down by Namor. We’ve done this already earlier this year! Using a person as a MacGuffin is so utterly bland. Thankfully, Thorne’s vibrant performance makes her entertaining despite her cheap plot purpose. Due to this, some of the story is transparent in its bloat.
Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) is a good presence, but he doesn’t contribute much to this story. Whenever Ross is around, you can practically hear Feige screeching about setting up future projects in the background. Though he’s set to have a larger role, his presence is useless outside of stringing along a phase four newcomer Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), who has been popping her head around like Nick Fury in phase one. Their screen time disrupts the pacing at various points while other deserving characters, particularly Michaela Coel as Aneka, are given scraps. To waste a perfectly good Michaela Coel on the heels of her multiple enemy wins, feels wrong. The film is already playing with so many newcomers and Aneka isn’t that important to the plot but you can’t just throw in Michaela Coel and leave us not wanting more.
The action set pieces aren’t much to write home about. Coogler's direction has a reverse Russo Brothers effect where he’s not good at large-scale action set pieces but finds strength in smaller combat sequences. Everything else is as generic as other MCU blockbusters, which is disappointing considering that Coogler’s Creed triumphed thanks to his action direction.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever flies beyond the confines of the MCU as a thoughtful, resonant action-drama with exemplary performances from the ensemble and passionate natural emotions. When the screenplay acts as a character study of grief and its ramifications, it serves as a hard-hitting poetic ode to Chadwick and the mantle of the Black Panther. Despite its retreads, this is one of the best movies of the MCU’s catalog to date.
