Disney needs to learn something very important. When an actor or actress dies, it doesn’t mean that the character they play in a movie has to die as well. It was very sad for everyone to hear the news of Chadwick Boseman’s passing at such a young age, but I’m sure he would have liked to see the character of T’Challa and The Black Panther live on in the MCU. To make matters worse, on the opening night of the film’s release in some regions, you could only see Wakanda Forever as part of a double feature with Black Panther.
Now some may see this as a tribute to Chadwick Boseman. but others may see it as Disney trying to extract even more money from the public since you have to pay double the normal ticket price to see both movies. Either way, Disney seems out of touch with how the public feels.
T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) has died suddenly, leaving Wakanda to mourn the loss of their king. T’Challa’s mother, Ramonda (Angela Bassett), takes over as queen of Wakanda and must contend with other nations insisting that her kingdom share its most precious resource, vibranium. A new source of vibranium lies underwater, but is protected by Namor (Tenoch Huerta), the ruler of the underwater kingdom of Talokan. A brilliant student, Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), finds herself in the middle of a conflict between the Wakandans and the Talokans that could lead to a war between the two nations. Shuri seeks to resolve any conflict peacefully, but struggles to deal with the headstrong Namor.
In line with other Phase Four MCU films, this movie underperforms. I loved the first Black Panther movie. There was a great hero, a great villain, a great cast, and an amazing story. Wakanda Forever has none of that. It’s long, it’s boring, and it’s just not very good. It was a real struggle trying to keep your eyes peeled throughout this movie, and that’s never a good sign. I honestly think there are maybe three or four good scenes in this movie, and that’s about it.
Without T’Challa, Shuri has to direct this movie. Letitia Wright is good, but she’s no Chadwick Boseman and she’s no Black Panther. This movie is 2 hours and 41 minutes long, and I’m sure you won’t see her in her Black Panther costume until after 2 hours. I hope you will be awake by then. Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t see it as a box office bargain like the first one was. Fans will see it in the first week, but I don’t see people coming back for repeat viewings. I wanted to point out that most of the actors are very good, it’s just that the story isn’t.
After Endgame, Marvel had a villain problem. A really good movie needs a really good villain, and you just don’t get one in this movie. Namor is the main antagonist, but like every villain in the MCU lately, we have to sympathize with him instead of fear him. As a comic book fan, I was really looking forward to seeing Namor in the MCU. First of all, he looks nothing like the comic book character. This may work for some people, but core fans will be disappointed. Besides, this guy is not a good actor at all. Namor also wears nose and ear jewelry, which was never the case in the comics. [Editor’s note: Marvel has chosen to give Namor a different story and city for the MCU which draws from Mesoamerican, Mayan, and Aztec culture, to which the jewelry is an homage.]
As usual, there’s a scene after the credits, but there’s only one, and it’s a mid-credit scene. And it’s the best scene in the movie, so I’d stick around to see it.
It looks like Disney is making these movies in order to release the eventual Disney+ series. And we could see two or three series appear from this film. Like I said before, Disney and Marvel are out of touch with what the public wants. They don’t want to give us what we want, they give us what they want, or they think we should want. Disney and Marvel seem to be playing on audiences’ heartstrings by using an actor’s death to sell a movie and asking audiences to ignore the fact that there really isn’t a good story to tell. The best thing about this movie is that it finally ends MCU phase four. Hopefully phase five will be much, much better.
I give “Black Panther: Wakanada” Forever a 5/10.
