Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) The Social & Political Consciousness of the MCU (Cinema Review)

Modern science knows more about the surface of the moon than the ocean. It is perhaps therefore fitting that after many excursions through space, it is the thirtieth entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that ventures into the deep. Furthermore, Ryan Coogler’s follow-up to the 2018 groundbreaking, box office conquering, Oscar-winning and Best Picture-nominated Black Panther also ventures into new thematic waters as Wakanda Forever explores issues that have previously only been suggested in the franchise.

The first of these issues is grief, which casts a heavy pall over the proceedings both within and beyond the film. The death of Chadwick Boseman is treated respectfully with the offscreen death of T’Challa and a fitting tribute to Boseman in the opening credits. The film then follows Shuri (Letitia Wright) dealing with her brother’s death, as well as the grief of her mother Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), General Okoye (Danai Gurira) of the Wakanda elite guard and former spy Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o). It is only partway through the film that the viewer may be struck that all of these characters are women of colour, an unusual sight in mainstream cinema as a whole, let alone a Marvel blockbuster. This focus on women of colour does not feel tokenistic because the presence of these characters is a development of the previous film. Similarly, the film’s treatment of grief is also organic, as all of them must deal with loss, in a way that the MCU has largely sidestepped through deaths of major characters either being climactic or having them undone through the multiverse conceit. Instead, here we see people actually grieving. Ramonda does so with anger towards the wider world, while Shuri buries herself in work and Nakia has distanced herself from Wakanda. Even as wider forces come literally knocking at the borders, these personal journeys provide an emotional core for the viewer to go along with.

The wider forces constitute the second issue of the film, which is international relations through the lens of post-colonialism. The first Black Panther engaged with racial injustice through the character of Erik Kilmonger (Michael B. Jordan), and here the tensions of post-colonialism and contemporary imperialism are taken wider as Wakanda must negotiate its place on the world stage. This is no mean feat considering the miracle resource vibranium that other countries crave. The USA’s quest for the mineral stirs up problems – don’t they always? – when Namor (Tenoch Huerta Mejía), ruler of the underwater kingdom Talokan, and his warriors both repel colonial invasion and open relations with Wakanda that are not entirely diplomatic. The appropriate response to Namor and Talokan is a question that runs throughout the film, debated by Shuri and Romonda as well as Okoye and M’Baku (Winston Duke).

Namor is in some ways a development of Kilmonger as he is far from a simplistic villain. He is charismatic and confident but also compassionate and wise to the dangers of contemporary imperialism and the interplay of nations on the geopolitical stage. His underwater domain is also far more imaginative than the marine environment of Aquaman, giving a genuine sense of somewhere strange and marvellous that Shuri can wonder at much as Everett Ross (Martin Freeman, who also returns) previously marvelled at Wakanda. Scenes between Namor and Shuri suggest one possible development and make the latter acts all the more compelling when relations become hostile. During all this, the US largely takes a back seat despite its best efforts to be central, instead, our focus is on two (fictional) nation-states that represent various post-colonial issues.

It is fair to say that Wakanda Forever offers a different approach for Marvel, as its focus is broader than an individual’s journey and shows genuine concern with wider consequences. The problem of superpowered American vigilantes without oversight was touched upon but not explored in Captain America: Civil War, but the idea of superpowered nations, beyond the established power players on the global stage, is a fascinating concept that the film openly acknowledges has no simple solution. And if this all sounds a bit heavy, do not fear that this is a portentous political drama. The individual stories of grief, duty and humanity are convincingly interwoven with the wider narrative, and there are spectacular set pieces as exceptional individuals and super technology clash to dazzling effect. Marvel has emphasised physical and embodied action since the original Iron Man, and shots of faces illuminated by lights in helmets as well as stunning choreography continue this conceit, especially in a fight between Okoye and four Talokians. Coogler treads a fine line in making the action sequences both grounded and fantastical, crosscutting between wide-scale battles and individual combat and cutting from slow-motion swings to normal time contact, all of which provide a strong sense of weight and impact. It is especially telling that the third-act appearance of the new Black Panther is perfectly timed and, once again, an organic development of all we have seen so far.

Marvel movies are often criticised for descending into excessive spectacle, so it is notable that the spectacular and thrilling action sequences are perhaps the least interesting aspect of this film. Conversations and debates, as well as the potential of where things will go, offer compelling questions both for the film and the franchise, indicating that these blockbusters continue to provide a useful framework for exploring social and political issues.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever