When you sit down for “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” the anticipation you likely feel toward the sequel after four years is almost nerve wracking and definitely somber.
I almost knew what to expect considering the symbol and pride of the first film, lead actor Chadwick Boseman, who played King T’Challa, died from colon cancer in August 2020, which was an absolute shock to the world.
His death came as a surprise to basically everyone as he only told a few non-family members about his diagnosis. Not even his “Black Panther” co-stars knew until his death was announced.
That is a stark contrast to the feeling everyone had in 2018, when the release of the first Black Panther film was a celebration. I can still remember the joy of getting up from the theater as Kendrick Lamar’s and SZA’s “All The Stars” played during the outro credits.
Now as I sat in the audience chair, I was ready for the new film.
We’re opened with the scene of T’Challa’s sister Shuri, played by British actress Letitia Wright, and Now-Queen Ramonda, played by legendary actress Angela Bassett, who are both grappling with the death of King T’Challa from an unspecified disease, leaving them without their loved one, protector and Wakanda king.
The biggest thing that the movie does incredibly well is how Wakanda now has to cope with not only the loss of their King and protector, but the fact they have opened themselves up to the world.
With that also means other nations are trying to gain access to their resources, specifically the strongest metal on Earth: the fictional vibranium.
Western countries, specifically the U.S., find themselves searching for vibranium in the Atlantic Ocean, which leads to us finally being introduced to anti-hero Namor, played by Tenoch Huerta.
Namor is a character that first appeared in Marvel comics in 1939, has been formally introduced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the Indigenous ruler of Talokan, a Mayan-connected underwater ancient civilization, whose backstory has direct ties to history in the real world.
Director Ryan Coogler’s ability to weave the issue of colonialism and its after-effects on the world is brilliant, especially in the Marvel universe, which is completely overtaken by its positive portrayals of the U.S. and its military power most of the time.
As Namor takes you through his backstory in the film in which he describes how his ancestors, his mother and their community destroyed by Spanish conquistadors in the Yucatan region of what is now Mexico, Coogler does not hide the smallpox scars the Mayan people were afflicted with purposely by Spanish colonizers.
The deviation from real-world history, however, is that Namor's people gained abilities to survive underwater while building a kingdom there to ensure their survival, with Namor eventually becoming their king, known as K’uk’ulkan or the serpent god.
The Mayan language is fully spoken in the film and Namor directly tells Shuri that the Spanish language is a hateful language.
Huerta takes Coogler’s direction while masterfully describing the history of the Mayan people and tying it to the lore of the Marvel movie.
Without giving much away, my least favorite part of the movie was how two colonized people were pitted against each other instead of working together from the beginning.
However, Coogler still directs the fear and generational trauma of encroaching imperialism both Shuri and Namor have.
That redirects their anger against each other, which doesn’t solve anything and they eventually both come to the conclusion that they are not each other’s enemies.
Despite the fact that Shuri and Namor want the same thing for their people, they move in different ways in how they advance their respective desires.
Namor desires, with very good reason, to see the world burn and Shuri wants to stop him.
Although if it was me, I would be asking him: Medium well? Extra crispy? Fries and a coke with that? – Which has only to do with the fact that Huerta is undeniably gorgeous.
We see Shuri not only navigate her denial of grief, but her own desire to see the world and her enemies who have wronged her, burn.
Even though they were pitted against each other in the movie to give the classic Marvel plot of a good guy and a bad guy, Coogler unites them together in the end.
The second you remove yourself away from the fact that this is from Marvel and you ignore all the little Marvel plotlines that are included in the film, it is a beautiful and tear-inducing movie.
Its beautiful portrayal of all the stages of grief and its incredible tribute to such an incredible person and actor, makes “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” a must-watch.
