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on. It was the first MCU film with an African-American lead and director. This also was the first Marvel film to touch upon race-related issues. It was a truly ground-breaking movie.    

     Seeing the Black Panther’s heart, strength, speed and overall greatness from his first appearance all the way to his last in the Marvel show “What If…?” made King T’Challa loved by everyone, even Detective Comics (DC) fans. Fans of his have been waiting for the “Black Panther” sequel since the first movie was released.

     Sadly, on Aug. 28, 2020, Boseman passed away due to colon cancer. His death was shocking to Hollywood and his fans across the globe. I was very heartbroken when I heard the news of his passing. His death left many Black Panther fans wondering what the future of the Black Panther would look like and how the MCU would continue to honor Boseman’s legacy.

     I went to see the recently released movie “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” the sequel to “Black Panther”. Prior to seeing it, I thought that the movie would be another flop that ruins another Marvel character’s story arc. I am happy to say that it was a thousand times better than I thought it would be. The main theme of the movie was centered around the loss of King T’Challa, and how Wakanda would cope with his tragic loss while defending themselves from an ongoing war with the king of Atlantis, Namor. 

     Everything about the movie was beautiful. The costumes, the action scenes and the wonderful song by Rhianna for the ending credits. This movie also did a great job of honoring Chadwick Boseman.

     The death of an important hero is nothing Marvel isn’t familiar with. Black Widow, Iron-man, Pietro Maximoff and Vision were all important losses. Normally, these sudden losses would also be faced with major plot holes, and continuing the legacy of those characters would be difficult. However, similar to “WandaVision”, Marvel did exceptionally well showing how the death of T’Challa affected the characters and Wakanda as a whole. They used the death of the Black Panther to further advance the development of many characters like the Dora Milaje General Okoye, T’Challa’s sister Shuri and his lover, Nakia.

     The way the director, Ryan Coogler, expressed mourning and grief was unlike any film I’ve ever seen. For an example, the funeral for Iron Man in “Avengers: Endgame:” was a sad moment, but the emotion was never really there. However, the funeral in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” made me feel like I was in Wakanda at that funeral. I felt the helplessness and sorrow that Queen Ramonda, Shuri and Okoye felt. It almost brought me to tears. The only problem I had with that scene was that no other Marvel hero came to the funeral like they did in other movies. I expected Bucky to be there since King T’Challa had played a huge role in erasing his evil alter-ego,      The Winter Soldier, and they gave him a new arm.

It was also fun to see the contrasts between the sequel and the original. There were many parallels between this film and the first, and lots of moments where Shuri’s character reminded me of how T’Challa was, and I loved that. A lot of scenes were also callbacks to the first movie. 

     Plenty of moments in the movie kept me on the edge of my seat. I loved how well it was directed, and how beautifully they passed on the mantle of the Black Panther while improving each character and honoring Boseman. There weren’t any bitter moments in the movie, and overall I highly recommend seeing it if you haven’t.