Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has a lot to live up to.
The first film, Black Panther, from 2018 broke countless box office records, was a massive crossover hit worldwide and was nominated for multiple Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
A sequel seemed like a no-brainer until the untimely passing of Chadwick Boseman, who portrayed the titular Black Panther, in 2020.
Marvel later announced they would not recast the role of T'Challa, but continued development of a sequel to Black Panther, with fans unsure of the direction it would take.
To me the title Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (stylised in the logo with Black Panther very small and Wakanda Forever very large) signified that this sequel would be more about the community of Wakanda and less about their masked defender. I would even wager a bet there was a discussion about whether this one could be simply titled Wakanda Forever.
Now that the film is out, it's no spoiler to mention that the character of T'Challa has died and a large amount of the runtime is devoted to the royal family of Wakanda dealing with losing their son and brother, as well as Wakanda losing their king.
For plot reasons not made clear in the trailer so I won't spoil them here, the Wakandans end up at war with the underwater nation of Talokan, ruled by Namor.
Talokan has similarly been kept hidden from the world and much like Killmonger in the first Black Panther, Namor comes from a very similar place to our heroes, but obviously has more villainous means to his ends.
Going into the cinema I was mainly sceptical for one reason. Now, I trust Ryan Coogler and Kevin Feige to deliver a heartfelt tribute to Boseman while still keeping the fun Marvel blockbuster brand.
The reason I was sceptical was that holy crap, the first trailer for this film was good. The one which blends Bob Marley's No Woman No Cry into Kendrick Lamar's Alright. It's the best trailer for any Marvel Studios production in my opinion (Logan doesn't count, otherwise its teaser would win).
Could a movie live up to this teaser?
Fortunately it does.
Phase 4 of Marvel has been a bit all over the place (check 1NewsNZ on TikTok for my full breakdown of the phase) so I'm glad it's ended on a high note.
This is a very different film to the first in a lot of ways. Firstly, it's a lot more serious. It's still a good, fun time at the cinema but Thor: Love and Thunder this is not.
It's kind of cliche at this point to say that Marvel films are actually genre films in disguise but if you subscribe to that idea, then Wakanda Forever is a war film. There's two generals in command of their armies debating ethics while hordes of their followers lay down their lives for their nation.
It's a long film, clocking in at 2 hours and 40 minutes, but the pacing is good enough that it doesn't feel like a chore to watch.
Angela Bassett is the standout as Queen Ramonda, leading an impressive ensemble cast who are all putting in their best work mourning the loss of T'Challa with which I'm sure are very real tears for their friend and colleague.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is self-contained, as was the first film, making this another surefire hit with audiences of all sorts.
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