Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is an American superhero film released in 2022. It is based on Marvel Comics featuring the heroine character Shuri. Wakanda Forever is the sequel to Black Panther which was released in 2018. It is the 30th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and was released on Disney Plus on Wednesday 1st February 2023.
Wakanda Forever was released following the death of Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman who died from colon cancer. The producers chose not to recast his role of T’Challa. In Wakanda Forever, the leaders of Wakanda fight to protect their nation in the wake of King T’Challa’s death.
The Movie Was a Success at the Global Box Office
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was the final film in Phase Four of the MCU. It premiered at the El Capitan Theatre and the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, on October 26, 2022. It was released theatrically on November 11, 2022. The film, which ran for 2 hours 41 minutes, received generally positive reviews. The movie earned a 94% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. It also scored two Golden Globe nominations and five Oscar nominations. Wakanda Forever grossed over $800 million at the box office worldwide making it the sixth highest-grossing film of 2022. It had the biggest opening ever for a film in Nigeria, as well as the second-biggest for a film released in 2022 in France and South Africa.
Wakanda Forever Had Several New Characters
Several characters from the first film reprised their roles including Letitia Wright’s Shuri who takes on the role of Black Panther as well. She made a name for herself as T’Challa’s sister in Black Panther. Wright took the lead role in the movie’s sequel. The princess of Wakanda was grieving the loss of her brother, King T’Challa, and was feeling guilty about his death. Shuri is a remarkable inventor and a true technological genius who is in charge of Wakanda’s scientific endeavours. Academy Award-nominated actress Angela Bassett played the role of Ramonda in Wakanda Forever. She played as Queen Mother to T’Challa and Shuri.
The Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o played the role of Nakia a former War Dog, and undercover spy for Wakanda, from the River Tribe. She revealed she had a son with T’Challa in the sequel, their son is played by Divine Love Konadu-Sun. Tenoch Huerta, the film’s major villain, is portrayed as Namor. Namor is the king of Talokan, an ancient civilization of underwater-dwelling people. His people refer to him as the feathered serpent god, K’uk’ulkan. Winston Duke reprised his role as M’Baku, a powerful warrior and leader of Wakanda’s mountain tribe, the Jabari.
The Film Is A Continuation Of The First Film
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever takes place after the death of King T’Challa. T’Challa, suffering from an unspecified terminal illness that Shuri believed she could cure with the “heart-shaped herb”. She fails to do so before T’Challa dies. While grieving the loss of her brother, she must fight alongside her mother Queen Ramonda to defend Wakanda from Namor and the outside world. Namor and his group of blue-skinned, water-breathing superhumans kill an expedition of the CIA and U.S. Navy SEALs at the Atlantic Ocean. The expedition utilized a Vibranium detector to locate a potential Vibranium deposit underwater. Namor confronted Ramonda and Shuri, blaming them for the expedition to find Vibranium. He gives them an ultimatum to deliver the scientist responsible for the Vibranium detector, or he will attack Wakanda.
Namor proposes an alliance with Wakanda against the rest of the world but threatens to destroy Wakanda if they refuse. In an attempt to rescue Shuri, Nakia kills a Talokanil guard and Namor retaliates by attacking Wakanda. In the process, Ramonda dies. After her mother’s funeral, Shuri uses a remnant of the herb that gave Namor’s people their superhuman abilities to reconstruct the heart-shaped herb. She ingests it and gains the powers of the black panther. She is stricken with a hunger for revenge ignoring M’Baku’s urges for peace. The Wakandans lure Namor and his warriors to the surface using a seafaring vessel where she eventually overpowers him and offers him a peaceful alliance which he accepts. In a mid-credits scene, Shuri learns that Nakia and her brother T’Challa have a son named Toussaint.
What Is The Cultural Significance Of The Film?
Wakanda Forever serves a great purpose to the African culture, especially in terms of cultural significance. This representation of Wakanda defies the past representation of Africa in stories such as Tarzan and Zulu. Stories that depict Africa as a very primitive continent teeming with savages who live in the Dark Ages. The setting of the movie, Wakanda represents Africa in its fullest glory.
Wakanda is a technologically advanced society that has never been conquered. It’s a society free of disease and obviously poverty. It also depicts a society free of the modern-day diseases that plague other civilizations across the globe. The movie portrays a society free of racism and gender inequality. Instead promotes the importance of gender equality, as seen in the powerful leadership of Queen Ramonda and the wisdom she possessed as a Queen regnant of Wakanda to the powerful and skilled all-female military group that protects the Wakandan rulers, the Dora Milaje.
Comparison With Other Marvel Movies
The difference between Wakanda Forever and other MCU franchises is clear in terms of storyline, music, reception and how much the movies grossed. The movie’s visual effects, music, and tribute to Chadwick Boseman earned some praise from critics and the general public. Wakanda Forever earned the number 7 spot for the highest-grossing Marvel movie of all time behind Captain Marvel.
Although Wakanda Forever wasn’t the most successful movie of the MCU’s Phase Four, it proved to be a huge success compared to other movies or television series that are part of Phase Four. The film set an all-time box office record in West Africa and accumulated the biggest opening of 2022 in East Africa, as well as the second-highest box office gross ever in Southern Africa which has never been done by any other MCU movie.
Where Can I Watch Wakanda Forever?
As mentioned earlier, Wakanda Forever began streaming on Disney Plus on 1st February 2023, 82 days after it was released in theaters. This is the longest window between theatrical release and streaming release of any Marvel movie arriving on Disney Plus. Subscribers had to pay $10.99 per month for the ad-free plan, or they could subscribe to the newly launched ad-supported tier, which is $7.99 per month.
The movie joined 16 other Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movies to stream in IMAX Enhanced on Disney Plus. Other movies The sequel joins the first Black Panther movie, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and Eternals. With IMAX Enhanced viewers would be able to experience a more immersive viewing with an expanded aspect ratio.
Follow Us
