It’s time for “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” the 30th movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and a sequel to “Black Panther” from 2019. Directed by returning director Ryan Coogler and written by Coogler himself with Joe Robert Cole, the film assumes a poignance as the main star of the franchise, Chadwick Boseman, died before the filming could begin. In 2020, he succumbed to colon cancer.
How was ‘Black Panther’ such a huge success?
The 2018 film “Black Panther” set many precedents. A majority-black star cast was featured in a big commercial superhero movie for the first time, and the plot was told from their point of view rather than the perspective of the white man. Additionally, it turned out to be a huge success, earning $1.3 billion globally. Chadwick Boseman, the star of the original movie, passed away from colon cancer in 2020, hence he is absent from “Wakanda Forever.”
‘Black Panther’ villain was sympathetic, as opposed to most MCU movies
The villain of the movie was one of the factors that contributed to its critical and popular success. Erik Killmonger, as portrayed by Michael B. Jordan, wasn’t your average MCU antagonist. He had good reasons to dislike T’Challa and the Wakandans because they had refrained from interfering with events such as the transatlantic slave trade, in which millions of Africans were transported to the Americas and sold as property at auction, apartheid in South Africa, and more. T’Chaka, the deceased Black Panther and father of T’Challa, also murdered his father. But his main motive was to govern Wakanda and exact revenge on everyone who had oppressed Africans.
How did Killmonger die?
In his dying remarks to T’Challa before succumbing to his injuries, Killmonger summed up his motivation. He declines T’Challa’s offer to receive medical attention followed by incarceration, which he interprets as more servitude. He then says, “Bury me in the ocean, with my ancestors that jumped from the ships, because they knew death was better than bondage.” Without a doubt, Killmonger won’t make an appearance in the sequel.
Namor: Who is the villain of Wakanda Forever”?
The main antagonist in the sequel is Namor. He is not, however, the Namor the Submariner from the comics. Although Namor predates the DC character Aquaman, he is described in the legend as Marvel’s Aquaman. He is a mutant and the offspring of a sea captain and a princess from the undersea nation of the Atlantic, which is home to Homo Hermanus, aquatic humanoids, and is believed to have been submerged for thousands of years. Namor possesses superstrength and water-controlling skills. He has played the roles of an anti-hero, a superhero, and a supervillain who seeks to exact revenge on those who live on Earth.
What is Talokan in ‘Wakanda Forever?
Namor (played by Mexican actor Tenoch Huerta) has been given a type of reinvention in “Wakanda Forever,” like many other characters before him. He plays the monarch of Talokan in the film, which is a paradise where spring never ends and is taken from the Aztec story of Tlalocan. However, Talokan in the movie is an undersea kingdom similar to Atlantis, and because of their hybrid human-fish physiology, the people who live there can breathe underwater.
Why is Namor involved in Wakanda Forever”?
Namor launches an attack on Wakanda in the film along with his army of blue-hued warriors (their look has drawn comparisons to the Navi) because he is miffed after the late Wakandan king exposed his kingdom before the world, and opened its borders. Namor believes this puts Talokan in jeopardy as that kingdom to has been hidden from surface-dwellers’s eyes for centuries. Coogler has described the character as “kind of an a**hole, kind of romantic, and just incredibly powerful”. ‘
‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ reviews
The majority of the reviews for the movie are favorable. On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, it has an 86% rating. According to the consensus among critics, “A poignant tribute that satisfyingly moves the franchise forward, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever marks an ambitious and emotionally rewarding triumph for the MCU.”