Editor’s Note: This review contains spoilers for “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”
Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole, director and writer of “Black Panther,” respectively, found themselves at a major loss when Chadwick Boseman lost his secret battle with cancer in 2020. His sudden, tragic passing left a gaping hole in the hearts of many fans and the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” was a tribute to Boseman. The Black Panther lives on. Released on Nov. 11, the film depicted many relentless battles as Wakanda suddenly faces a new enemy.
Blurring the boundaries of reality and fiction, the nearly three-hour film opened with Shuri (Letitia Wright) scrambling to save her brother T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) from an unnamed disease. Her failure leaves the people of Wakanda grieving the loss of their protector with a dazzling funeral service. The sequence featured traditional dance and song before panning to a street memorial of the Black Panther that once watched over Wakanda. Foreign governments scrambled to seize a weakened Wakanda for possession of Vibranium, the most powerful material on earth.
At the heart of “Wakanda Forever” is a commentary on capitalism and colonialism. Underlining the film is a grapple for control of vibranium. In the shadows, international powers sought to topple Wakanda and steal this highly coveted resource. A team of Americans mined for Vibranium in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean using the first machine that could track the material. But the dive team ran into an underwater attack, leaving no survivors. The United States government suspected the perpetrators of the attack were the Wakandans, which created the perfect excuse to treat the country as hostiles.
The true aggressors were the people of Talokan, mutants who migrated to an underwater nation hundreds of years ago. They, too, rely on Vibranium and have remained unknown for centuries. Avoiding colonization has kept Talokan safe and powerful. However, Wakanda put a target on its back and unknowingly put Talokan in danger by revealing the existence of Vibranium to the world across the last decade of MCU canon.
The international relations portrayed in the film are all too real. The slight missteps that lead to rising tensions make the otherwise fantastical film brush closer to reality, allowing viewers to further suspend disbelief and immerse themselves into the political world of the MCU. Wakanda unknowingly put Talokan in danger by revealing a coveted resource that external governments will undoubtedly go to war for. Viewers are sucked into the film’s many complicated layers of conflict while mourning the loss of a legend.
Talokan’s leader Namor (Tenoch Huerta) is a superhuman mutant who can fly with a pair of wings on both of his ankles. Namor will do anything to keep himself and his people a secret. He has lived many lives and does not want his nation to fall victim to colonization. But after the American government’s search for Vibranium put Talokan in jeopardy, Namor demanded that the American scientist who created the Vibranium-tracking machine be brought to him and put to death. Otherwise: this means war.
Okoye (Danai Gurira) and Shuri set out to find the creator of the machine. The duo are tipped off by Okoye’s favorite colonizer, CIA Agent Everett Ross (Martin Freeman), that college student Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) built the machine. Not long after finding Riri, the trio — and some unlucky police — are attacked by the Talokan people, who are determined to kill Riri. Shuri convinces them to take her and Riri to Namor while Okoye is left behind to face the wrath of Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett).
This attack, too, was blamed on the Wakandans. The CIA pressed for the destabilization of the seemingly dangerous Wakanda, but their true intentions are clear. This is a not-so-subtle commentary on the United States government’s very real tendency to use war as an excuse to plunder resources from foreign nations, highlighting the evil of greed and capitalism. The most well known example is the Iraq War, which was fought under the argument of controlling oil in the region. Wakanda could fall victim to this ploy and be painted as a terroristic state if they are not careful.
Shuri faced a difficult decision in Talokan: either become allies with Namor, sacrificing the death of Riri and war with everyone seeking Vibranium, or become the enemy of Namor, who will immediately attack an already weak Wakanda before going to war against the surface world.
The beauty of this ultimatum is in its moral ambiguity of it. Neither Namor nor Shuri seem wrong in their beliefs, both just want to protect their people from overreaching governments. Namor knows that violence is the only language that some people understand, and Shuri hopes to remain reasonable in an unreasonable world by following a peaceful path.
Meanwhile, Queen Ramonda sends T’Challa’s former lover Nakia (Lupita N’yongo) to track down and rescue Shuri. Luckily for Riri, the duo are saved just in time, but two Talokan citizens are killed during the mission.
The deaths of the Talokan citizens plunge Wakanda and Tolokan into war. Namor and his army seek revenge and attack Wakanda, killing Queen Ramonda in the process.
Hungry for her own revenge, Shuri finally succeeds in recreating a synthetic purple heart herb, the essence of the Black Panther’s superhuman powers, and consumes it to follow in her brother’s footsteps. “Wakanda Forever” shows how dangerous certain emotions can be — grief, for example, can manifest in many different ways. Shuri avoided facing her grief, leaving her with pent-up emotions that soon became her greatest weapon. Her bottled emotions lead to bloodlust and battle with the Talokan people.
Two great civilizations are then turned against each other, leading to the deaths of many. Meanwhile, the true enemy (foreign interference from the Americans) is nowhere near the fight. This conjures up images of COINTELPRO, an illegal FBI operation that used tactics to disrupt and destabilize very real Black organizations during the civil rights movement during the 1950s. Though perhaps unintentional, the United States’ actions caused infighting between Wakanda and Talokan.
In a nail-biting and visually stunning last battle, the people of Wakanda fight against the Talokan atop a looming ship. Neither side gained the upper hand long before the other managed to do the same. On a far-off coast, Namor and Shuri had their own showdown that ended with Shuri standing above a weakened Namor. She nearly cut off Namor’s head to end things once and for all, but a message of peace from Queen Ramonda stopped her.
“Wakanda Forever” teaches that revenge is not the answer. Vengeance destroyed the people of Wakanda and Talokan. To end the mounting deaths, the two leaders agreed to a truce. Though this outcome was predictable, it was still a satisfying end to the conflict. As hinted in the film, the two nations have bigger fish to fry and an alliance will likely benefit both Wakanda and Talokan further down the line.
The film ended with Shuri visiting Nakia back in Haiti. In a tear-jerking moment, muted happy memories of T’Challa played out as Shuri finally let go of her grief and burned her funeral garments. Emotions heightened in this moment of silence as fans, and Shuri, finally laid her brother to rest.
It wouldn’t be a Marvel film without a last-minute plot twist. In the post-credits scene, Nakia introduced Shuri to Prince T’Challa, the child that she and T’Challa had in secret, who would one day ascend to the throne.
“Wakanda Forever” is a touching tribute that pays homage to Boseman while also showcasing his impact. The gray cloud that loomed over the Black Panther franchise was partially lifted by “Wakanda Forever” and replaced with hope. Though fans may never get over the death of Boseman, this film served as some comfort — while Boseman is no longer with us, his memory lives on within us forever.
Asia Boyd is a Campus News Intern for the fall 2022 quarter. She can be reached at asiajb@uci.edu.
