Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever is the newest Marvel film and it is a direct sequel to the 2018 Black Panther that was lead by Chadwick Boseman. The film’s events are set sometime after Endgame. Ryan Coogler has returned to write and direct the sequel. The film stars Letitia Wright, Angela Basset, Lupita Nyong’o, Martin Freeman, Winston Duke, Tenoch Huerta, Danai Gurira, etc. Letitia Wright’s Shuri is the real protagonist of the film as Chadwick Boseman has tragically passed away. The film was pretty much marketed as something that addresses grief everyone was experiencing after Boseman’s passing. The film just like any other Marvel had great first reactions but more than anything the one that caught my attention was that it was a mature film unlike other MCU ventures.
The last few Marvel films have deeply disappointed me to the point where I questioned my choice of films. However, I deeply respect and believe in Ryan Coogler as a filmmaker. So, I wanted to see what he had to bring in this array of disappointments that Marvel is churning out. The trailers for the film looked absolutely stunning and heart pounding. I conjured a lot of hope as I stepped into the theatres to watch Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, hoping that the film is good, as I knew this would be my breaking point if I saw another mediocre venture from Marvel and it seems like Ryan Coogler has just managed to make this film work. Black Panther 2 is effective and does leave us with certain questions, one of the most prominent ones – Who is the New King of Wakanda?
Black Panther 2: Is M’Baku The New King of Wakanda?
The end of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever saw a truce being signed between and the Talocans and the Wakandans. Shuri- the new Black Panther leaves Wakanda as she goes to Haiti to visit Nakia. Where she meets her nephew Toussaint. However, before that there is a very important scene that quite frankly slips by us and we don’t pay much attention to it. However, that scene itself has great implications on the film as well as the MCU. We see the ceremonial waterfall where M’Baku challenges to become the new King.
Although, we don’t get any confirmations whether he is officially the King or not. I didn’t understand why Shuri is not the Queen herself but that may be her choice to give it away as she is still grieving her mother and brother. I don’t think so there was anyone to challenge M’Baku and given the new light he is shown in he’ll be accepted as King wholeheartedly. Winston Duke- who plays M’Baku has given us a confirmation about the same.
While speaking with Esquire, the actor confirmed that his on-screen character is indeed the new King of Wakanda. “Yeah, it’s kind of cool to be revealed as the King of Wakanda at the end of the movie. That’s huge. So whatever that entails, it’s gonna be a fun one.”
Many fans had also predicted that M’baku would be the new Black Panther however, that didn’t happen and the actor was asked the same thing. Duke answered with, “You know, I love the support that I’ve gotten from the fans. I think the strength of Black Panther has always been the ensemble. You know what I mean? It’s always been Black Panther’s had to lean on everyone around him. Whether M’Baku’s the next anything, it’s still gonna be a great ensemble piece.”
Duke isn’t tired of the Black Panther films as he just wants more of them. “Of course, we would love to see a third, fourth, fifth, sixth film. There’s so many cool things left to tell about this saga. I myself, as a fan, would love to see how everything plays out.”
Duke also gave us his take on Shuri being announced as the Black Panther. The actor says, “Yeah, so the fans theories’ are right. She is the new Black Panther, rightfully so. It follows the story of the comic books, and it makes a lot of sense that, you know, it stays within the Panther Tribe and family. She does an incredible job as the new Black Panther.”
The M’Baku actor would also like to see a spin-off about the Jabari Tribe that have featured in the Black Panther series. “I’d love to see a spin-off for M’Baku. I said it before, and I’ll say it again. The Jabari culture is so rich, there’s so much. They are an entity onto themselves in the mountains. And, in the process, we did a lot of work.” He further talked about the amount of work they did to create the culture of the Jabari tribe, “We did a lot of work to ground it in specifically Igbo culture. The small things, the grunts, like, you know, if I just make a noise my guys start responding because those are things that we, in rehearsal, started playing with. And I feel like if you got a spinoff, that we get to learn what things mean, and why, and why they’re special, and dive into that culture. It would be something really special.”
In an earlier interview, Duke has also mentioned how he felt he wouldn’t get the part while he was auditioning for the 2018 Black Panther, “The Black Panther audition was one of… I would say it lasted maybe a couple months. I knew nothing about what I was auditioning for. It was top secret. It was just said to be ‘Untitled Marvel Property’ at the time. And I went in, and I’m seeing all these people that I knew like Sterling K. Brown, Michael Jai White. And all these like people that I said, ‘Oh man, I’m not getting this.'”
He then narrated how he split his pants as he was auditioning for Black Panther (2018), “They said, ‘Ryan Coogler would like to meet you.’ And then I got in there, and it was Chadwick and myself at the screen test. And they just kept saying, ‘Do more stuff,’ you know. ‘Can you guys wrestle?’ So we wrestled, and I split my pants. My underwear was out and everything, and I was like, ‘You know what? If I don’t book this job, you guys gotta buy me new pants. Like for the least, you guys gotta get me some new pants.'”
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is playing in theatres near you.
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