Few blockbusters have been as closely scrutinized as Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. As the sequel to a groundbreaking, award-winning movie, the stakes were already incredibly high. Then, the unexpected and tragic passing of lead star Chadwick Boseman in 2020 shifted the plans for future Black Panther movies completely. Regardless of what might have been, Wakanda Forever is an incredibly ambitious movie, the kind of blockbuster that demands to be seen on the big screen — not because of its grand action scenes (though this one has plenty), but because of its broad scope. Though messy at times, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is an impactful examination of grief aided by excellent character work and exhilarating action.
Save for its emotional opening, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever picks up one year after the death of T'Challa, Boseman's towering Marvel hero. In the time since his passing, Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett) has taken charge of Wakanda while Shuri (Letitia Wright) has thrown herself into her work in the hopes of arming her beloved homeland more than ever before. As Wakanda works to regain its foothold in a world eager to prey upon its vibranium resources, the country is faced with a unique threat: Namor (Tenoch Huerta), the leader of the underwater world known as Talokan. The surface world's growing interference on his home has led Namor to adopt a defensive stance against humans, and he wants Wakanda's help. However, his terms aren't as simple as signing a peace treaty. Shuri and Ramonda, along with several returning faces (and some new ones as well), are forced to find the best path forward while still mourning the loss of their Black Panther.
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There's no question that returning director Ryan Coogler (who also co-wrote the film with Joe Robert Cole) was faced with a difficult task when taking on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Some might disagree with the decision to center the film around T'Challa's death rather than recasting the character, but from the opening moments, it's clear the movie holds nothing but love for Boseman and all he stood for. It's hard not to think that when Ramonda or Shuri shed tears for T'Challa, Bassett and Wright were also crying for Boseman. Coogler and Cole smartly weave in quieter beats for the characters amidst the typical Marvel action. There are much-needed conversations that take place here, and they provide some welcome shades and depth for several characters. A strength of Black Panther was its supporting cast of characters. Wakanda Forever only builds upon that, whether it is by giving Jabari leader M'Baku (Winston Duke) a deeper characterization or letting Dora Milaje general Okoye (Danai Gurira) possess some stunning vulnerability. The cast as a whole is reliably excellent. Bassett gives a soaring performance as a devastated, yet impressively strong-willed queen, while Wright truly steps into her own here. Lupita Nyong'o also excels with a more developed Nakia.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever introduces two major Marvel Comics characters to the franchise, Huerta's aforementioned Namor and Iron Man successor Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne). Both performers sink into their roles right away and cement themselves as welcome additions to the MCU. Huerta especially proves to be one of the franchise's most compelling antagonists, lending Namor a layer of charisma and sympathy that, for a time at least, is hard to root against. Namor and Riri are among Wakanda Forever's strengths, but their presence also serves as a reminder of just how much this movie has going on all at once. There's Wakanda's fight against Talokan, Riri's origin story, and the heroes' mounting grief, as well as a surprisingly entertaining (yet a tad extraneous) subplot involving Everett Ross (Martin Freeman). On top of all that, this is a Marvel sequel that goes to some dark places and takes some big swings. At times, Coogler and Cole's script seems to strain from the effort it takes to pull all these threads together, and while the final product isn't perhaps as clean as the first Black Panther, it is still a thrilling, emotional ride.
This is largely because Coogler moves between epic spectacle and quieter, contemplative moments with ease. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever falls just 20 minutes short of three hours, and that runtime comes down to how Coogler lets certain moments breathe rather than trying to rush through them. Of the action set pieces, Talokan's invasion of Wakanda (featured prominently in the trailers) is perhaps the standout, raising the stakes while eliciting genuine frissons of shock. Much has been said lately about Marvel's CGI and its questionable behind-the-scenes approach to such work, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever does suffer from this. Still, Coogler knows how to stage effective, gripping action sequences here, and they're at their best when they focus on the human side of it rather than the explosiveness of it all. Action aside, the craft work that earned the first movie some Oscars remains an MCU highlight in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Ruth E. Carter's costumes are colorful and impressively designed, while production designer Hannah Beachler gets to design an underwater kingdom that, while perhaps not as vibrant as one might expect, sparks the imagination as Namor swims through Talokan and takes it all in.
Marvel's Phase Four has been somewhat controversial online, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will no doubt lead to debates. It's an MCU movie bursting with ideas, brilliant callbacks to the previous film, and piercing expressions of grief. After spending several movies diving into the multiverse or traversing the far reaches of space, the MCU has now offered one of its most poignant stories yet, and it largely pays off. Audiences will likely cheer and cry in equal measure. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is a fitting tribute to an icon, and it paves an exciting way forward for the Marvel franchise while cementing itself as a cultural force to be reckoned with.
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Black Panther: Wakanda Forever debuts in theaters Friday, November 11. The film is 161 minutes long and rated PG-13 for sequences of strong violence, action, and some language.
Black Panther
4.0
