Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) Review

“Only the most broken people can be great leaders.”

Pre-production was underway for the Black Panther sequel when it suffered the loss of its star, Chadwick Boseman, after losing his battle against cancer in 2020. Recasting would have been blasphemy and bringing back Michael B. Jordan would cheapen the stakes of the previous film. It seemed logical for Marvel to scrap the project entirely, but to my surprise, they merely opted to delay the film. I wondered if someone like Denzel Washington would be deaged to take on the mantle of the Panther.
When the first teaser trailer came, imagery of harmony, love, and grieving, was illustrated to great effect with Bob Marley’s No Woman, No Cry. It was clear that writer/director Ryan Coogler was able to conjure up something special, despite pondering never returning to the director’s chair after Boseman’s passing. To honor his legacy, however, he decided to return to the Marvel sandbox.

When the film opens, there was a deficiency of music and it is disorienting. This is by design, to enter Shuri’s headspace at that moment, who feels lost and useless. I disagree with this choice, with such a brilliant composer, Ludwig Göransson, on board the project, surely he could have produced the proper melodies to strike the audience with the necessary…