--M'Baku, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever wastes no time addressing the death of Chadwick Boseman by having T'Challa die offscreen almost immediately, forcing the remainder of this almost three hour movie to carry on without the titular character (though the title Black Panther is a formal mantle and not an individual's personal name, which becomes a major plot point). The absence of T'Challa from the very first scene does result in a very abnormal direction for a sequel and for the 30th film in a massive, interconnected franchise, but it also permits Shuri to have a rather somber, strong arc across the long runtime. Like The Incredible Hulk, The Winter Soldier, and Eternals before it, Wakanda Forever also keeps an a steady serious tone the majority of the way through. Not only does this avoid cheapening Chadwick Boseman's death and the in-universe death of his character, but it also means the living characters take the threat of a global war between humans on the surface and Talokan's underwater inhabitants seriously. For all of its bloated length and sometimes random or artificially prolonged subplots, Wakanda Forever at least stands above the petty, intrusive humor the MCU has increasingly embraced as a whole.
Production Values
The film has a much less colorful and much more practical underwater civilization in Talokan than DC's rival aquatic society, something that both sets it apart and emphasizes a more realistic take on a species that has been living in the ocean for much less time than the Atlanteans of the DCEU/DCU. There are several great shots both underwater and on land, including the darkness of the water too deep for sunlight to reach it and the ancestral plane respectively. Lacking the color of Aquaman does not harm Wakanda Forever. Both underwater and above the surface, the characters are also given plenty of time to develop. This is one of the most character-driven movies in Phase Four. Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong'o, Angela Basset, Tenoch Huerta, Winston Duke, and Danai Gurira and more deliver performances that absolutely match the genuine gravity of the situations their characters find themselves in. With so many characters, the focus does not rest on each one equally, but Letitia Wright as Shuri, Angela Basset as T'Challa's mother, and Tenoch Huerta as the functional leader of the submerged Talokan are among the absolute best as far as their characterization and performances go. Thankfully, Tenoch Huerta as Namor is a villain audiences might see yet again, and he receives plenty of screentime across the more than two and a half hours of the story. Martin Freeman also skillfully returns as a supporting character--at least the movie has one benevolent white person, though the MCU at large has far more than just one, so it is not as if there is validity to the objection that Wakanda Forever portrays all white people as immoral.
Story
Some spoilers are below.
In the aftermath of King T'Challa's death from disease, vibranium is discovered in the Atlantic ocean, the first time it has been found outside of Wakanda in recorded history. A species of undersea humanoids kills the crew of an American vessel sent to investigate, and their leader Namor confronts the queen of Wakanda to tell her that Wakanda and his own civilization need to prevent the rest of the world from obtaining vibranium for themselves. Namor discloses to Shuri, T'Challa's sister, that he seeks to attack surface nations and will only spare Wakanda if it joins with him. Escalating tensions lead to fights between the two societies, one with its water-based advantages and superhuman strength and one with its extreme technological advances. During this time, the CIA is also attempting to take and wield vibranium for the sake of unwarranted aggression, with one of its members aiding Wakanda from the inside.
Intellectual Content
Namor, like Killmonger before him, is ultimately a utilitarian fool, thinking that a preemptive strike on all nations because of what they might do or because of what some nations did in the past is enough to warrant open war against the surface. Though his tragic backstory involves atrocities of the Spanish and he expresses dislike of general humanity above the waves, the characters sometimes speak ambiguously about the details of this. He offers peace to Wakanda if only they will ally with him against the whole rest of the world. The rest of the world's population would not just be white people, Americans, or Europeans, something the movie only dances around when directness and philosophical accuracy in avoiding stereotypes would have been much better. However, Namor's entire philosophy, based on assumptions and emotionalistic preferences, focuses on stereotypes of surface humans as it is, and he shows willingness to kill a young girl (Riri Williams) on utilitarian grounds. At least whereas Killmonger was explicitly hypocritical in his quest for racist genocide against white people, Namor is more concerned with people who live above the ocean as a whole, yet liberals and conservatives will probably make plenty of assumptions about the intended themes of the film based on what is not actually clarified with words. Because of the way that, for all of its triumphant emphasis on something deeper than asinine humor, this movie does not address some very important things, there seeming nationalism in a place like Wakanda that once adhered to strict isolationist policies are overlooked, as are some of its idiotic traditions--though belief in concepts because of tradition and an emotionalistic reverence for tradition are of course irrationalistic no matter the person, community, race, gender, class, or nationality.
Conclusion
Wakanda Forever is in no way a perfect movie. It could have streamlined some of its plot far more and done more to clarify the nuances of its themes, but the persistent seriousness of the tone and the way that it, for the most part, stands firmly apart from T'Challa are very noteworthy accomplishments. It is also an immense benefit that the entire cast gives strong performances that in some cases are among the very best of the entire MCU. Given that the MCU at this time encompasses eight streaming shows and 30 films, there have been many performances in it by this point, and even when the dialogue, humor, or more overtly philosophical elements are mishandled, at least the acting has been one of its greatest assets. Wakanda Forever simply has such sincere performances that are passionate and quiet when necessary that it has some of the best MCU acting not because the previous acting was weak, but because the acting here is so blatantly incredible. With or without T'Challa, there is certainly enough to build off of for a third movie, and it seems likely that Namor will return. This subseries of the MCU has plenty of potential left.
Content:
1. Violence: Characters are impaled, clawed, or otherwise attacked in ways that sometimes draw minimal blood.
2. Profanity: "Shit" is sometimes used.
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