'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' is Marvel at its messiest
A chance to grieve is tarnished by the requirements of the MCU machine.
This post contains spoilers about Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever opens with one of the most visually interesting and emotionally powerful moments in the MCU’s 30-film saga. Its first 10 minutes are a colorful, vibrant and moving celebration of King T’Challa’s life as the Wakandan people take to the streets for his funeral. His family moves his coffin through the city, flanked by dancers and fellow mourners as the music thrums. Director Ryan Coogler captures the sadness the film’s characters feel at the passing of Black Panther, but also their appreciation for his protection and their joy in his nobility.
It’s also, more importantly, a chance for Coogler, his cast and audiences to mourn the passing of Chadwick Boseman, who died in 2020 of colon cancer, two years after starring in Black Panther. Perhaps fittingly, the funeral sequence culminates in a silent presentation of the Marvel Studios logo, its usual collection of scenes from other Marvel films replaced by shots of Boseman as T’Challa throughout the franchise. It’s a devastating moment, and I guarantee it’s probably the only movie whose production logos have made me cry.
Which is why it’s such a shame that the powerful opening gives way to one of the most disappointing movies in the MCU.
Please note what I said: disappointing. Not necessarily the worst. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is not a debacle and has moments of power, particularly whenever it returns to its titular setting. But as a follow-up to one of the best comic book movies ever — and the MCU’s sole Best Picture nominee — as well as an opportunity to honor an actor taken too early, it left me deflated. I’d hoped Coogler would deliver a film full of emotion, resonance and power; while those things are there, they’re nearly all choked out by concessions to the Marvel machine.
Wakanda forever…but USA more?
Walking out of my screening, my biggest question was why a movie called Black Panther: Wakanda Forever spent so much time in Massachusetts.
To recap: after the opening, the movie picks up a year after T’Challa’s death. The Wakandans are mourning, but also dealing with international conflict. The rest of the world wants in on some of that sweet, sweet Vibranium, and they’re making not-so-thinly-veiled threats that they’re willing to do anything to get it. When a group of scientists using a Vibranium detector finds a deposit under the ocean floor, they’re quickly dispatched. They assume it’s the Wakandans protecting their precious commodity, but it’s actual Namor (Tenoch Huerta), king of the underwater nation Talokan, who puts pressure on Wakanda’s queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett) to align with him against the forces of the mainland.
That’s actually a solid idea for a Black Panther sequel. After opening Wakanda’s borders at the end of the first film, what would the repercussions be, and how would less-noble empires (maybe even a certain one I’m writing from) seek to exploit Wakanda’s technology and resources? With T’Challa’s death leaving the nation vulnerable, there’s room for a story about a battle for the country’s soul: will it seek to work diplomatically or align with potentially ruthless leaders to strike first? How do anger and grief complicate those decisions?
And while those questions come up later, the film first spends more than an hour hanging out in Boston. Namor’s true intentions are initially hidden, and what he approaches Ramonda and Shuri (Letitia Wright) with is a seemingly smaller request: find college student Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), who built the Vibranium detector, and bring her to him. So, Shuri and Okoye (Danai Gurira) head to the States for a buddy comedy where they can find Riri and bring her back to Wakanda while they figure out whether they can trust Namor.
Since it’s ultimately revealed that Namor really doesn’t care about Riri and is only using her as a ploy to get the Wakandans to join him in his assault against the rest of the world, this hour is largely pointless, and the film could have proceeded without it. And it’s worth asking why a film called Wakanda Forever, which already has to deal with the death of its iconic lead character and questions of how Wakanda moves on, wastes so much time with a buddy comedy set in a U.S. college town.
The answer gets a bit clearer when you realize that, in order to find Riri, Shuri has to call in Everett Ross (Martin Freeman), the CIA agent whose life Shuri saved in the first Black Panther. While it makes some sense that Ross would return, the real reason the movie brings Ross back is to reveal that his ex-wife is the mysterious Valentina Allegra de Fontaine – who is now the head of the CIA and, more importantly, has been portrayed as burgeoning threat in the MCU played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and who Marvel probably needs to remind audiences is still around so that they can say “oh yeah, it’s her!” when she ultimately shows up as the big baddie in another project.
The Marvel meddling gets even more blatant when you realize that Thorne is set to play Riri Williams in the Disney+ series Ironheart, and her presence likely serves as what, in TV parlance, would qualify as a backdoor pilot. Thorne is fine in the role; she’s charismatic and funny, and her characterization as a brilliant college student playing around with Tony Stark-like technology is a good setup for a future show. But here, she’s a MacGuffin, and when she’s ultimately handed over to Namor, it’s revealed that Shuri is who he wanted all along, and she’s largely forgotten about until she gets to don an Iron Man-like suit in the climax.
Interconnectivity used to be a feature, not a bug, in the MCU. In fact, there was a period when it was the best thing about Marvel Studios. The interweaving narratives made the build up to The Avengers one of the most exciting narrative experiments I’ve seen a studio take, and Marvel deserves props for the way their multi-franchise storytelling paid off organically and emotionally in Avengers: Endgame.
But in a post-Endgame world, particularly one in which the studio is pinning the majority of its hopes to Disney+, that interconnectivity too often feels obligatory and much less charming. Sure, it’s fun to see the Guardians of the Galaxy pop up in Thor: Love and Thunder or hang out with Bruce Banner and his cousin in She-Hulk. But rather than a fun way to draw characters together and share a universe, these cameos too often feel like brand deposits, not-so-subtle ways to market the next Disney+ show or MCU movie.
The Black Panther franchise hasn’t been immune from this. The character first showed up not in his own movie but in Captain America: Civil War, and the Winter Soldier’s presence in Wakanda is what pulled T’Challa and his countrymen into Avengers: Endgame. But Coogler’s first Marvel movie felt largely separate from the larger MCU, and was able to carve out a unique visual style and center not only T’Challa but a cast of characters that was readily embraced. And as the studio attempted to carry on the franchise after Boseman’s death, rightfully deciding not to recast the role or use a CGI Boseman, what was needed was more of a central focus on these characters, this setting and how they move on in light of tragedy. Instead, the first hour is given over to what feels like a subpar streaming miniseries.
It feels apparent that what Coogler and his cast are invested in is the story of Shuri, Ramonda and the nation of Wakanda, and how they deal not only with T’Challa’s death but also the interference that opening the nation’s borders has caused. Coogler is fantastic at creating memorable characters and telling compelling stories often grafted onto the frame of mainstream entertainment (Creed might be the best example of a legacysequel). He’s a director of energy and passion. And those things feel utterly absent once the film leaves Wakanda, as if his heart just isn’t in it.
It’s not that the actors are bad. I think there’s some fun buddy comedy banter between Wright and Gurira, and Thorne is charismatic and funny; I’ll happily see what she does with Ironheart. But every sequence set in the U.S. plods. The cinematography is muddled, trading in the vibrant colors of Wakanda for the drab gray palate that is too often the Marvel house style. And the action is abysmal, edited to ribbons. There’s a car chase that is nearly incomprehensible and the few sequences featuring the Dora Milaje, Wakanda’s female-fronted army, lack the badassery and energy of the first film. Everything about the first hour feels like a concession and reeks of studio notes. Freeman and Louis-Dreyfus, actors who I have obviously enjoyed immensely in many other shows and films, are adrift here, particularly the latter. Louis-Dreyfus is one of the sharpest and funniest actors on the planet, but she flails with every line she’s given. It’s a drag.
The entire enterprise feels like a cautionary tale about these multi-film, intricately scheduled franchise pieces. After Boseman’s death, there likely should have been a moratorium on Black Panther movies for several years. There’s no reason the material in this film’s first hour couldn’t have comprised a three- or four-part Disney+ series, potentially the first season of Ironheart. Tweak it to have Riri as a student at a Wakandan outreach center being mentored by Shuri. Have her run afoul of the U.S. government when her Vibranium detector falls into the wrong hands. Thread in hints of international tension between Wakanda and the rest of the world (and still give Angela Bassett her standout moment rebuking the UN). End the miniseries with Shuri being called home because T’Challa is sick, and then just focus Wakanda Forever on the nation’s struggle to move on, grieve and deal with the proposal of aligning with Namor. I don’t know if it would be good — visually and narratively, too much of the first half of Wakanda Forever feels like Falcon and the Winter Soldier, the worst of the Disney+ series — but it would get the shoe leather introductions and world-building out of the way and allow the Black Panther sequel to focus its attention on the emotional material Coogler seems most interested in.
Black Panther, too
Because the thing is, there’s some good stuff in the last 60-90 minutes of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The cast brings its A-game, particularly Bassett, who has several moments where she unleashes her grief and righteous anger. I’ve heard some people mention Oscar possibilities for her, and I don’t think the movie quite works well enough for her to really stand out in a crowded field, but she’s extremely strong. I’ll always be up for watching Winston Duke show up, glower and aggressively munch on carrots, and Coogler wisely brings him back as a voice of reason and support for Shuri.
The film has legitimate thoughts on its mind as it ponders what threats and opportunities would come Wakanda’s way after joining the rest of the world. And while Michael B. Jordan’s cameo serves as reminder that he was the best thing about the first movie and a Marvel villain who can’t be topped, I’ll admit that I found Huerta compelling as Namor, whose backstory reveals that he has plausible reasons for fearing the rest of the world, and who the movie wisely never presents as a madman but a misguided king turning to the wrong tactics to protect his people. I appreciate that the film ends with a truce and not with Namor being vanquished, even if I suspect the reason is so the character can ultimately play a larger role in the MCU.
And it’s worth celebrating that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is a movie whose protagonists are primarily women of color. I’ve mentioned Bassett, but Gurira is solid as well – a tense moment between Ramonda and Okoye is the film’s highlight, a rare chance for the movie to stop and let its characters dig into their feelings of grief, anger and uncertainty. Thorne is largely inessential, but she’s a welcome addition to the MCU. Lupita Nyong’o has a smaller role as T’Challa’s former lover, but she helps shade in the elements of grief and mourning the story call for. And Letitia Wright, who is saddled with the burden of carrying the film’s emotional weight and the franchise’s future, solidly captures Shuri’s heartbreak, loss of faith, grief and anger while also allowing her to still be one of the MCU’s brightest additions. It’s all solid work by a cast tasked with the nearly impossible task of soldiering on after the loss of friend and colleague who was the center of this enterprise.
And yet, good as much of the final half of the film is — even the action seems to pick up and energize during a raid on Wakanda, a battle aboard a massive ship, and a fight on a sandy shore — the film’s first hour has wasted so much of its time that it feels like it’s rushing through its most important beats. The film forgets about Ramonda for much of its runtime and then returns to her just in time for her death. The council of elders shows up to tsk-tsk and offer advice, but it’s largely just an afterthought. And while Wright captures the emotional turmoil Shuri feels, her actual decision to become the new Black Panther feels like an afterthought. Rather than an entire film about her wrestling with whether she is worthy to take on the mantle and follow in her brother’s legacy, the film turns the assumption of the Black Panther label into a technical problem. Once Shuri finds a way to regrow the heart-shaped herb, becoming the new Black Panther feels obligatory, a chance just to make sure Marvel can still churn out future movies (and let’s not discuss the groaner of a post-credits scene, which basically just serves to say “T’Challa will return….in about 10 years.”).
I imagine this material would have been shaped much different had it not had to deal with Boseman’s death (although it’s possible the MCU would have still demanded Valentina, Ross and Riri’s participation). But the loss of such a central piece of this franchise probably required more time and focus. This was a movie that could have been a deeply emotional and cathartic experience; instead, its moments of emotion are lost in the clutter of franchise service and world-building. And while it occasionally lurches to life, it’s mostly an overlong, unwieldy mess that is not worthy of what came before.