WAKADANDA FOREVER: MARVEL PAYS TRIBUTE TO CHADWICK BOSEMAN

BY PETER CARAM

Following months on the big screen, Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Black Panther Wakanda Forever has finally debuted on Disney Plus. This film was postponed not only because of the Covid-19 pandemic but also due to the passing of Chadwick Boseman, the Black Panther himself. His passing led Marvel to rewrite the whole film to honor Boseman. The question is does it live up to extraordinary expectations Marvel fans had for it?

The film starts off with Shuri, (played by Lettia Wright) the princess and brain of Wakanda, in her lab trying to recreate a heart-shaped herb to cure her brother from an unknown disease. But right as she succeeds, her mother Queen Romanda (played by Angela Bassett) delivers the news that her brother has passed away. Soon after a funeral is held for T’Challa while the entire nation of Wakanda says goodbye to their king.

The story continues a year later when Queen Romanda, now ruler of Wakanda, is summoned by The United Nations to complain that Wakanda has not been providing resources to other countries as they promised. Queen Romanda defends herself by saying now that the king and protector of Wakanda is gone, other countries see this as an opportunity to steal vibranium resources from Wakanda and that they won’t back down any more from countries that tried to steal their resources. Later Ramonda walks with Shuri to discuss T'Challa's passing when suddenly a new character,

Namor(played by Tenoch Huerta), comes out of the water and says he needs Wakanda’s help against the surface world and if they don’t help he will destroy Wakanda. Is Namor a friend or foe? The rest of the lengthy film unfolds to give us our answer.

With an eighty-four on Rotten Tomatoes and ranking as the most streamed Disney Plus movie worldwide, it's safe to say that audiences have a lot of love for this film.

Overall, I found the film amazing at hitting its target audience. The story is great and the effects are better in this film than in its predecessor. Furthermore, the pace of the film is quite quick despite having some longer scenes devoid of action during its two hours and forty one minutes. The characters are well written and there are several phenomenal portrayals, specifically Lettia Wright as Shuri, Tenoch Huerta as Namor (whom I consider to be one of the best villains in the MCU) and Angela Bassett who absolutely kills it in this film. But the best part of this film is the fact that it is more than just a standard Marvel film, it's a love/goodbye letter to the departed Boseman. Overall, I give this film a 9.9/10 because it is indeed one of Marvel's best films of the year, and it felt more serious and emotional than the past few MCU projects. Black Panther Wakanda Forever is now available on Disney Plus in case you missed out on watching it in theaters and don’t forget to watch the post credit scene - it will make your heart melt!

BY OLIVIA HARDING