In 2016, Chadwick Boseman introduced Black Panther to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) in Captain America: Civil War. Then in 2018, Black Panther got his own movie and became the first MCU film with a Black director and a predominantly Black cast. Black Panther stars Chadwick Boseman, Lupita Nyong’o, Letitia Wright, Dania Gurira, Winston Duke, Michael B. Jordan, Daniel Kaluuya, and Angela Bassett, to name a few.
Black Panther was one of the first superhero movies where Black people truly felt represented on the screen. In the Time magazine article, The Revolutionary Power of Black Panther, author Jamil Smith writes,
“If you are reading this and you are white, seeing people who look like you in mass media probably isn’t something you think about often. Every day, the culture reflects not only you but nearly infinite versions of you—executives, poets, garbage collectors, soldiers, nurses and so on. … Those of us who are not white have considerably more trouble not only finding representation of ourselves in mass media and other arenas of public life but also finding representation that indicates that our humanity is multifaceted. Relating to characters onscreen is necessary not merely for us to feel seen and understood, but also for others who need to see and understand us.”
Chadwick Boseman was not only a superhero on screen, but also off-screen. In 2016, Boseman was diagnosed with stage III colon cancer. Sadly, after four long years of fighting, he passed away in 2020. Family, friends, and fans were devastated by the news, heartbroken to lose such an inspiration. His death created a large hole in the MCU and led to the question: How would Black Panther live on?
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is the long-awaited sequel that came out in November of 2022 after it was announced in June of 2021. According to Vulture, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever started to film in June 2020 with Chadwick Boseman. After his passing, Marvel reshot the film and created a new storyline.
SPOILERS AHEAD!
The sequel opens with Princess Shuri (Letitia Wright) scrambling in her lab to save her brother, T’Challa (Boseman), from an unknown, terminal disease. Despite her efforts, her mother, Ramonda (Angela Bassett), enters the lab and announces that the king has died. The movie then jumps to a year later, and Wakanda is still grieving the death of their king. Furthermore, Namor, a mutant and king of an unknown underwater civilization that also relies on Vibranium, arises. When young scientist, Riri Williams, creates a machine that the CIA can use to sense Vibranium, Namor strikes. Namor and his people want to kill Riri, but Shuri intends to keep her safe in Wakanda. This leads to an attack on Wakanda, where Namor kills Queen Ramonda, and Shuri becomes queen. Shuri becomes consumed by vengeance and finds a way to recreate the lost heart-shaped herb that will make her the Black Panther. There is an epic battle between the new Black Panther and Namor, where she fights him nearly to death. Ultimately, Shuri presents a truce, and an alliance is formed.
Shuri, the new Black Panther, surrenders her crown to M’bacu (Winston Duke) and goes to live with Nakia (Lupita N’yongo), T’Challa’s love, at a Haitian school. There, Shuri can grieve the loss of her family and rediscover who she is as the Black Panther. In the end-credit scene, Nakia introduces a 5-year-old boy named Touissant. All along, King T’Challa had a son growing up away from Wakanda. The Black Panther legacy will continue.
This movie is genuinely about grief and how one rises above it. Grief is a powerful emotion that can cause one to grow vengeful. In these times, one must rediscover who they are and learn to live without their lost loved one. However, especially in Wakanda, it is known that our loved ones live on through us.