By: Jocelyn Olmos
SPOILER WARNING: Some details from the film will be discussed in this article
“Vengeance has consumed us, but we cannot let it consume our people” (Shuri). This quote is what changed the whole direction of the final film, of phase 4, of the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. This film has been the most talked about and anticipated of the whole phase 4 era of the MCU and it did not disappoint. The film was released November 11, 2022.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever stars almost all your favorites from the last Black Panther film and from separate Disney + shows , Letitia Wright as Shuri, Angela Bassett as Ramonda, Danai Gurira as Okeye, Lupita Nyong’o as Nakia, Winston Duke as M’Baku, Florence Kasumba as Ayo, and Martin Freeman as Ross. Along with these returning actors and actresses there are also some new faces that are apart of the fantastic story such as, Tenoch Huerta as Namor, Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams or Ironheart (hinting to a new and upcoming MCU show), and Mabel Cadena as Nomora. And of course Chadwick Boseman’s past scenes in the last Black Panther are a part of this new film. These scenes are placed as a remembrance of him because in the film Chadwick’s character T’Challa does pass away due to sudden health issues. This film takes place in Wakanda 2024 after the blip and after Thor: Love and Thunder. This film is piled with amazing choreographed action scenes that leave you wishing you were a part of the movie making it an action movie.
Many MCU fans were curious about how the plot for this movie would turn out with the death of actor Chadwick Bosemen who portrayed the Black Panther in four prior films. Essentially this film is about T’Challa’s mother Ramonda and sister Shuri and how they are handling T’Challa’s death. The heartbreaking death is present in the film, in the beginning it is a scene of Shuri trying to find a way to help T’Challa from being with his ancestors. Shuri is not able to do so and T’Challa passes away. This now leads Ramonda and Shuri to be the only people of royal blood in Wakanda. They both of course struggle greatly with the passing of T’Challa but Shuri struggles greater than her mother. A scene that happens closely to that one is about the CIA on a huge military ship deep diving into the ocean trying to find vibranium. Not vibranium from Wakanda but from another source. There are two deep divers that end up seeing the vibranium but do not make it back up to the surface. Once the coordinators of this mission realize the two divers don’t make it to the surface there is an ominous chat coming from the sea sounding like sirens and this leads other people on the ship to jump off into the water. The ship is then attacked by the source of the vibranium. After this scene and various others there is more shown on the difficult passing of T’Challa. Ramonda notices that Shuri is struggling so much that she takes Shuri to a secluded pond within Wakanda and suggests that Shuri should burn the clothing that she wore to T’Challa funeral to finally move on. Shuri refuses and as she refuses a man emerges from the pond. Ramonda and Shuri are alarmed and question who this man is and what he desires. The man explains his name is Ku’K’ulkan a Mayan god but his enemies call him Namor and for the majority of the film the Wakandians call him Namor. He explains that his people were threatened with having their vibranium stolen from them during an underwater mission of the U.S. government. Ramonda is in disbelief because she cannot believe how someone else is able to have the ownership of vibranium because it has only ever been known to be in the possession of Wakanda. Ramonda denies this but Shuri tells her mother to notice that he was covered in vibranium and not only that but that he had pointed ears and wings on his ankles. Right away they could tell that Namor was not a person to be dealt with lightly. Namor informs Ramonda and Shuri that he desires the scientist who was responsible for creating the technology that allowed the U.S. government the ability to dive so deep underwater to find the vibranium and to kill her. Shuri and Okeye set out to find said scientist Riri Williams. Riri and Shuri are abducted by Namor’s people of Talokan and taken there. From here different impressions of trust and alliances are made between what should happen to Riri and how Wakanda and Talokan can become friendly empires together.
There was a moment of silence at the start of the film that created more emotion in the audience. This made fans relive how they felt when they first heard the news of Chadwick’s passing and how incredible of a hero they had lost. In the beginning of every marvel movie the marvel theme song or the theme song of said film plays when the marvel logo is playing. In Black Panther: Wakanda Forever there is the exact same routine however with only scenes of Chadwick Boseman in the MCU and with no music or theme song. It was a moment of silence. Everyone in the theaters obeyed this and there was no peep from anyone. It was beautiful seeing this dedication to Chadwick knowing that without him there would be no real beginning to the Black Panther story.
With there being a moment a silence there was also lots of beautiful music that played a big part in the film. Most of the music that was used for the film was produced by Ludwig Goransson. Ludwig has produced lots of music for other movies and shows such as Turning Red, The Madalorian, Creed II, and Black Panther. Of course when Wakanda is mentioned at any point in an MCU series or shows there is the iconic set of notes that play. These notes are used with a percussion instrument called the talking drum and these are used whenever a reference of Wakanda is made in the MCU when the movie is opening in Wakanda. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever you hear the same talking drum as the first song that plays and you feel as if you are actually in Wakanda again after Falcon and the Winter Soldier. However since there is new representation, there is also new music. The first song that we hear that does not have to do with Wakanda is called Sirens. This song had movie watchers on the edge of their seats because of how eerie this song made the scene feel but there are some beautiful songs that make certain scenes feel like an absolute dream. In the scene where the kingdom of Talocan is introduced a beautiful song named Con la Brisa produced by Ludwig and Foudeqush is playing and makes the whole feel as if they were being introduced to the kingdom as well. There is Spanish music that just makes the whole mayan culture feel so much more authentic in such a well made and produced film.
In other words this film was one of the best films the MCU released in phase 4. An overall rating for this incredible film would be a 10/10 highly recommended. It is now out on Disney+ so fans can rewatch as many times as they want and trust me you will rewatch it again and again. The film did an amazing job with honoring the late Chadwick Boseman and his incredible portrayal of the Black and the new Black Panther that there is now. With everything that phase 4 gave us and all the things expected from it, this film was one where everyone was in awe with all their predictions and theories and was the best way to close out a phase.