How are you meant to create a sequel to a movie when your lead actor has died? What are you meant to do with the almost completed script when you find out you no longer have your lead actor? What are you meant to do when you have to make a movie while you are grieving?
The simple answer is that whatever you do, you are going to face some enormous problems. Ryan Coogler was the man faced with these issues. Letitia Wright, Angela Bassett, Winston Duke, Lupita Nyong’o and Danai Gurira, among others had to bring that story to life.
Ultimately, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is a story of loss, grief, anger and ultimately, acceptance that death is an unavoidable part of life.
The story circles around the discovery that Wakanda is not the only nation in the world that benefits from vibranium, the material that drives the Wakandans armour, technology and perceived invulnerability. We discover that, following the death of T’Challa, several nations have attempted to steal vibranium from Wakanda, only to find that the absence of the Black Panther has not rendered the nation unable to defend itself. However, when an invention discovers a source of vibranium under the ocean, a second civilisation, Talokan is unleashed, headed by Namor, a God-like mutant, seeking to keep their civilisation, and their vibranium, a tightly guarded secret.
Namor decides that the inventor of the device must die in order to keep that secret and this brings him, in a roundabout way, in conflict with Wakanda.
The important thing to know here is that neither the Wakandan, nor the Talokan motivations are ‘wrong’ or ‘evil’. Both are built on flawed philosophies and this is where the original heart of the Wakanda Forever script really shines.
The biggest problem with the story is that the way it has had to be re-engineered in the wake of Chadwick Boseman’s untimely death is way too evident. This is a movie that could have benefited from a big delay to allow for the clearly significant script rewrites to happen in a far less obvious way. The net result is a movie that ultimately becomes a victim of cliche and predictability. The notion of loss, resemtment and anger needing to be overcome by understanding, acceptance and love feel shoe-horned into a plot that should be far more natural.
This is really epitomised by the inevitable establishment of the new Black Panther. I have no real issues with who takes the role, nor in a lot of ways the internal struggle they face with vast emotional conflict when taking on the mantle. The problem is not with that, it is just simply clunky, rushed and unpolished. You can see what the movie could have originally been, had Chadwick not have become sick. And do not get me wrong, I think Ryan Coogler has done the best he could in the time he was given to do it and under the circumstances he had to work in,
There are some standout performances in the film. Angela Bassett is wonderful as Queen Ramonda, with a confrontation she has with Danai Gurira as Okoye being an utterly remarkable scene for both. Letitia Wright is powerful as Shuri and the emotional journey her character has to go through is intense and beautifully executed. Tenoch Huerta provides genuine gravitas to his role as Namor, although the role feels both majestic in places and stunted or diminished in others. This is not the first time that the MCU has taken on presenting an anti-hero rather than a villain as an antagonist and, whilst I think Namor is a wonderful addition to the MCU, the Wakanda vs Talokan and Namor vs Black Panther dynamics suffer as the desire/need to see both survive and prosper diminishes the impact of the battles. Winston Duke is utterly brilliant as M’baku though he is woefully underused in the movie, although the setup for his future looks awesome.
The standout performances for me are Lupita Nyong’o as Nakia, T’Challa’s bride and Danai Gurira as Okoye. Both bring everything to this movie and, whilst Lupita is another victim of being underused, their presence on screen is utterly captivating. Saying any more about their arcs would really lead to spoilers, suffice to say that both have significant futures in the franchise.
The ultimate conclusion I feel here is that it’s a movie that feels it has to act as a memorial and this is done in a way that diminishes the actual story. Unfortunately, it is the story that ultimately is the heart of any movie and so the movie as an entity, as a piece of art, is hurt as a result. Maybe if more time had passed to allow the writers, director and actors to work through their own grief more, maybe if more time had been allowed to refine the script, maybe if more time had been allowed to get through the restrictions COVID imposed, the movie would not have suffered so much.
Equally, whilst it is an almost impossible task to think about anyone else playing the role of T’Challa, had a re-cast been done, I cannot help but think the movie would have been better for it. The sacrifice of the story to the memorial was just too damaging and, in a sense, I personally feel that delivering the best possible story with some truly exceptional writing and directing would have acted as a sufficient memorial in itself. Take the recasting of Dumbledore in the Harry Potter franchise as an example. Of course, in that case, the recasting was essential since the stories were adaptations. But the introduction of Michael Gambon did nothing to tarnish the job that Richard Harris did prior and allowed the delivery of the story to remain the sole focus.
All that said, this is not a ‘bad’ movie. It could probably have used some tighter editing and, to be frank, the inclusion of Dominique Thorne as Ironheart and Martin Freemans return as Agent Ross feel superfluous. The story did not need them, though the MCU needed a vehicle to introduce Ironheart. Given the sandpit Coogler was told to play in, and the restrictions and limitations he faced, I think he’s done as good a job as anyone could have. I just wish it could have been “more” in every sense of the word.
