Can you believe it's been almost five years since "Black Panther" came out and changed pop culture? A pandemic, 20 more Marvel Cinematic Universe projects (give or take) and a whole lot of social upheaval later, it feels almost quaint to think of February 2018 and the vibranium shockwave felt throughout the world.
But this month, moviegoers can finally return to Wakanda. In the shadow of franchise star Chadwick Boseman's 2020 death from cancer, "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" hits theaters this weekend. Here's what to expect.
You wanted more 'Black Panther'? How about almost three hours?
Like we said, "Wakanda Forever" is coming out in a much different world than the first "Black Panther." There's a lot of ground to cover, and director/co-writer Ryan Coogler was in business mode.
No major spoilers follow, but if you want to go in without knowing even the basic plot of "Wakanda Forever," divert your eyes.
Years after the events of "Black Panther" (and "Avengers: Endgame," which gets the cursory MCU wave), the kingdom of Wakanda is in mourning. King T'Challa (Boseman) has died, despite the best efforts of the scientific genius Princess Shuri (Letitia Wright). T'Challa's mother, Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), leads her nation, and heavy is the head that wears the crown. Shuri, meanwhile, is in a Hulk-sized depression, with a guilt complex to match.
As usual, the world's greed for the super-metal vibranium causes trouble. A drilling operation disturbs a lost undersea world ruled by Namor (Tenoch Huerta), the god-king of mutated water-dwellers with roots in Mayan civilization. Namor wants the head of the scientist who created the drill machine, who happens to be a prodigy named Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne). But Shuri, Ramonda and their allies — including war general Okoye (Danai Gurira), prodigal spy Nakia (Lupita Nyong'o) and mountain warrior M'Baku (Winston Duke) — can't have that, can they? Plus, Riri could have given Tony Stark a run for his money, much to Shuri's delight.
The clash of two isolationist superpowers spells doom. If only Wakanda had, say, a protector with sharp claws and a hotline to their ancestors ...
'Wakanda Forever' feels like a movie within a movie.
Coogler was given an almost impossible task. How do you move forward a billion-dollar movie franchise, one that represents a triumph for Black representation in media, when your star dies tragically in real life? That question, inevitably, lurks behind every frame of "Wakanda Forever," for good and for ill.
Mind you, aside from T'Challa, these now-beloved characters are not major presences in the comic books on which the MCU is based. Black Panther first appeared in the 1960s, along with iconic characters like Iron Man and Spider-Man. (In fact, T'Challa was originally a Fantastic Four character.) Meanwhile, Shuri wasn't even created until 2005, and poor M'Baku has spent most of his publication history as a D-list villain.
All that's to say: The cinematic world of Wakanda is its own special force for good in pop culture, and it is cosmically unfair that Coogler's sophom*ore outing couldn't just build organically and joyfully on the thoughtful greatness of the first "Black Panther."
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But "Wakanda Forever" still roars when it can. The fight scenes are, to a one, magnificent to behold, especially any time scene-stealer Okoye is onscreen. Her wig-and-spear combat prowess was a Top 3 highlight of "Black Panther," so obviously, Gurira's character this time gets a showpiece with a classic muscle car and her sharp weapon of choice.
"Black Panther" also tackled some of the most sophisticated moral and philosophical questions of any comic book movie. Really, it did not need to go as hard as it did, and yet we were blessed. "Wakanda Forever" takes that mantle, this time stewarded by the MCU's best supporting cast, now thrust tragedy into ensemble stardom. The film is a meditation on grief and the many different places it can take people: into rage, productivity, avoidance and despair.
And through the fight with Namor, "Wakanda Forever" again crafts a conflict where the antagonist, bloodthirsty though he may be, isn't wrong, exactly, when it comes to the threat of colonialism and oppression. That's much more interesting than any tech mogul Iron Man ever fought.
Our heroes (and our splashy antagonist) don't get equal ends of the vibranium stick.
So, that supporting cast thrust by tragedy into ensemble stardom ... for an almost three-hour movie, you'd hope for a few more satisfying spotlights.
"Wakanda Forever," perhaps fittingly, is a movie about Shuri, and to a slightly lesser extent, Ramonda. Bassett's queen mother, forced to once more raise a nation but now in her twilight years, is a force. It's a privilege to watch the performer's gravity keep every plot thread in orbit. Wright, a bright and comedic highlight of "Black Panther," gives Shuri new depth, but the role of protagonist never quite clicks.
Meanwhile, Gurira is standing right there, a charismatic big-screen superhero if there ever was one. And though the script (co-written by Coogler with Joe Robert Cole) gives her a couple big fight scenes, some Marvel-ous quips and even an attempt at a dramatic arc, the story loses Okoye midway and never quite finds her again.
The rest of the Wakandan elite fare similarly. Duke's M'Baku has a special moment as Shuri's counsel, but it's fleeting. Poor Florence Kasumba, as Dora Milaje veteran Ayo, remains Wakanda's near-mute cameo queen. And Michaela Coel, one of the most lauded writers and actors of today, joins the cast just to play an underwritten cipher.
Then there's the Namor of it all. If you'll indulge a bit of comic book fan nitpicking (and this reviewer hardly ever does that, so please), the classic Marvel Comics sea king is a hoot and half, an arrogant, Shakespearian and compulsively combative fish guy from World War II who helps the Avengers or the X-Men just as often as he tries to flood Manhattan with a giant squid.
Huerta's charming, complicated version of the character resembles the source material in power and formidability, but not personality. He's ancient, ruthless, dutiful and a fantastic match for the ethos of Wakanda's heroes. But the Namor of "Wakanda Forever" — a character with wings on his ankles and a humpback whale on retainer for war games — is also humorless. Just feels like a missed opportunity, is all.
As a tribute to Chadwick Boseman, 'Wakanda Forever' threads the needle.
For all its goals — move the shared universe forward, build upon beloved characters, celebrate its place in pop culture, make a lot of money — "Wakanda Forever" needed to nail one job above all. That was pay tribute to Boseman, and by extension, T'Challa.
Throughout, the film does so with elegance and nary a cheap trick. Two silent montages bookending the film serve as powerful memorials. In the "Black Panther" films, those lost to the characters inspire them from beyond the mortal coil. Life imitates art.
For subscribers:48 never-before-seen portraits of stars at ACL Fest
If you go: 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever'
Grade: B
Starring: Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong'o, Angela Bassett, Danai Gurira, Tenoch Huerta
Director: Ryan Coogler
Rated: PG-13 for sequences of strong violence, action, some language
Running time: 2 hours, 41 minutes
Watch: In theaters Nov. 11
