I was certainly a doubter when I first heard they were continuing the “Black Panther” movies after the tragic loss of Chadwick Boseman but the “Black Panther” sequel Wakanda forever changed my mind. It is extremely difficult to live up to the expectation of the first “Black Panther“ movie in 2018 but this sequel did it justice.
Chadwick Boseman was an incredibly talented American actor that played a vital role in the original “Black Panther” movie asking T’Challa the “Black Panther.” Chadwick Boseman passed away on August 28, 2020, due to colon cancer. The “Black Panther” sequel addresses and pays tribute to his death in the opening credit. Instead of opening as the usual visuals of the galaxy’s superheroes, it only features Boseman as “Black Panther” in complete silence.
In the original “Black Panther” movie, T’Challa returns home after his father, the king has passed and takes his rightful spot on the throne in Wakanda, Suddenly a powerful enemy appears and now his mettle as a king and the “Black Panther” gets tested while the entire world is at risk. Now he must do everything he can to assure the safety of his people. The overall message of this movie was about what it means to be Black in America and Africa and more broadly, the world. This movie came out on February 16 in 2018 during a time when a black superhero was needed more than ever. King T’Challa became the start of the new age of superheroes.
In the sequel of “Black Panther”, they address Chadwick Boseman’s death as he had also passed on the marvel universe off-screen. Queen Ramonda and Princess Shuri mourn the loss of T’Challa and now have to face a new enemy, Namor, due to the recklessness of other countries trying to obtain vibranium. Once Wakanda was discovered as a powerful country because of the substance of vibranium, now every country is doing everything they can to get their hands on it leading to the reveal of the underwater kingdom named Alantis. Namor is furious that his people have been revealed and threatens the Wakanda kingdom for it. Although there was a recurring theme of grief and mourning throughout the movie the message can relate to the original as political diversions and long-lasting colonialism due to not only the reference to the colonialism of Africa but also of the Mesoamericans.
I thoroughly enjoyed everything about this movie but did it truly hold up to the expectations of the first? In my opinion, no. The movie is not true to the original comics and of course, it is understandable why it is but I felt like the plot-wise they could have come up with a better solution for choosing who the next black panther was going to be. Hopefully, in the next movie things will balance out but as of now it just seemed very compact.
Something that I considered when watching “Black Panther Wakanda Forever” was the fact that a huge part of the movie was Chadwick Boseman’s death, the whole plot did not revolve around
it. Honestly, it was quite refreshing that they had a solid storyline but still subtly honored Boseman throughout the film.
Inclusion and diversity is something that is a trending political topic lately and has been for some time. The fact that the filmmakers added diversity by incorporating Mesoamericans into already a socially impactful movie would have been too much but they did it justice. They gave the backstory of Namor very sympathetic and they also gave good reasons for doing such acts of violence. The way they concluded the film was also very just.
For a comeback after the original “Black Panther” movie, it was thoroughly enjoyable and amazing. The backgrounds were phenomenal and the soundtrack made the whole movie so emotionally invested. I know Chadwick Boseman is looking down proud of the legacy he built four years ago.
