Black Panther: The Rise of a New Age: From the Underwater World to the Ultraviolet To The Dark Side Of An Ancient Empire
For the first time, a new-age hero was being created. No stranger to larger-than-life roles, Chadwick Boseman brought poise and charisma to the performance alongside an all-star ensemble that included Lupita Nyong’o and Michael B. Jordan. Black Panther was smart enough to avoid the easy trap of representation in an industry that is starved for color and meaning. A credit to director Ryan Coogler and co-screenwriter Joe Robert Cole, the movie was about more than the miracle of being acknowledged; it was a measure of genuine progress. We responded to it after it spoke to us. New Black futures—intricate and lush and free—were opening up.
The world is looking at Wakanda again after the death of the king. Queen Ramonda took the throne after her son died and did her best to maintain the African nation’s status as a sovereignty power. In one early scene, French soldiers try to steal some of the vibranium used to create cutting-edge weaponry and tech but are quickly kicked at by Dora Milaje. Greed is the spark that leads to all manner of conflict, and Cooler and Cole are trying to reignite the story by starting it with Greed. The US government begins a vibranium-tracking operation in the Atlantic Ocean but it is mysteriously thwarted by an unknown power—the people of Talokan, an underwater empire home to the only other wellspring of vibranium on Earth.
A war, as it turns out, that isn’t quite as persuasive as the animating principles behind it. The US government has an obsession with global influence. Or the all-consuming rage Shuri (Letitia Wright) feels from the loss of her brother, and the very real way it drives her to action. Or how Namor’s villainy, if it should even be called that, is rooted somewhere deeper, somewhere more human. He is from a different genre of antiheroes. Like Wanda. Like this person. Namor is regaled in paradox and not completely unjustified in his wrath. He is the descendant of a 16th century tribe that fled enslavement and was forced to find refuge underwater, which is how nicely his story is propped. His morals weigh on him.
Black Panther. Wakanda Forever, or When Nakia Breaks the Chain of Hermitian Brother, T’Challa
While grief was certainly part of what kept Nakia away from Wakanda, she reveals to Shuri that it wasn’t her only reason or the most important one. It would be best for their son, Toussaint, if he grew up away from the attention and danger of being in the royal family. As shocked as Shuri is to learn that she has a six-year-old nephew, she’s even more stunned and moved when he tells her that while Toussaint is his Haitian name, his mother also named him T’Challa for his father.
The movie leaves unanswered a question about the future of the throne of Wakanda, which was left unanswered by the death of his father and grandmother. After Shuri’s able to synthesize a new version of the heart-shaped herb and become the newest Black Panther earlier in the film, it’s fairly clear that she intends to retain that specific title as well as her position as the nation’s princess. But Wakanda Forever also takes care to give M’Baku (Winston Duke) one of the film’s last significant lines as he announces his intention to once again challenge Wakanda’s other leaders to ceremonial combat to determine who their new ruler should be.
The movie Black Panther. Wakanda Forever ends on a hopeful note, but it does so after putting the whole of Wakanda through a level of tumult, upheaval, and destruction that’s wholly new for its people. The movie doesn’t go quite so far as to suggest that there could be even more monumental shifts coming Wakanda’s way. A certain amount of sense would be made if the franchise focused on how the new Black Panther will get the political situation in Wakanda in order, so that he doesn’t become queen.