#tenoch does such an incredible job

[unicornspwnall]

BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER (2022) dir. Ryan Coogler Tenoch Huerta as Namor/K’uk’ulkan

[the-last-rat-standing]

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Spoilers galore:

It was never going to be easy. Chadwick Boseman’s passing was shocking and the loss will ripple through the Marvel universe for decades. What he brought to the character cannot be understated, and what he left behind is equally important. 

I give Ryan Coogler all the credit in the world. What he gave us is a wonderful movie that struck the perfect balance between grief and moving on. So much of the movie reflected so much of our real life grief at Chadwick’s passing, but handled it in a way that gave us an opportunity to smile and let go. 

We’re never told exactly how T’Challa died, beyond a mysterious illness that was too far gone for Shuri to cure. @thenicecheese thinks it might end up being an illness tied into characters who were ‘snapped’. Maybe so. But for me, it won’t matter- it was just enough information without tying themselves up in knots to explain it. The funeral was just the right length, too, giving us a moment to grieve before seguing into the Marvel title sequence. 

Except it wasn’t the regular Marvel title sequence. They replaced all the images on the Marvel logo with images of Chadwick Boseman, and there was no music. Yeah, just stab me in the heart, Marvel.

I’m not going to get too too much into the details. It had its flaws. Some of the CGI wasn’t great; while the water sequences were beautifully done, the air shots were often poorly rendered, particularly the ones with Namor flying around. (That being said, when Shuri cuts off one of his wings? Great scene.) Was also waiting for someone to say, “Just because you’ve killed this scientist doesn’t mean there isn’t another scientist to take over the work.” It was a pretty weak premise for Namor to lose his shit over.

I was surprised at how ‘Big Bad’ they made Namor. Not a lot of grays in his world nor the writers’ depiction of him. There wasn’t really a point where I felt he was justified for killing all those people at the beginning, or invading Wakanda. I will say, Tenoch Huerta, who played Namor, was very good with what he was given. Probably needed just a little more sensuality, but had a great presence.

Speaking of presence- and this surprised me, considering how important she was in the movie- Letitia Wright felt like the weakest role in the movie. Her turn to vengeance was very good, but overall, she lacks a screen presence that draws me to her. Will also say Dominique Thorne (RiRi Williams/Ironheart), while not bad in the role, sort of faded into the background after her introduction. Lupita Nyong’o was so much more compelling, and she barely had much to do.

You know who had the most amazing presence? Oh my god, Angela Bassett and Danai Gurira. The scene where Ramonda strips Okoye of her rank was stunning and heartbreaking all at once. Long after this movie fades from my memory, this scene will remain.

And here’s where I talk briefly about DC movies. This isn’t meant to trash them or put them down in any way; what I’m about to say is honest criticism. There are 2 things Marvel does incredibly well that DC just doesn’t. 

1. Music. Sarah Halley Finn does an amazing job at casting, but whoever chooses the music for the Marvel movies is vastly underrated. Have you seen the Quantumania trailer yet? Have you heard that freaky version of “Good-bye Yellow Brick Road”? Who can forget “Dear Mr. Fantasy” that started Endgame? Though it’s not in the movie, “No Woman, No Cry” (covered by Tems) was in the trailer, and my god, talk about perfection.

2. This one is currently out of DC’s hands, but is indicative of how DC has handled their universe. Consider this: Iron Man only came out 5 years before Man of Steel. But what has DC got to show for it? A botched Justice League with a Batman who didn’t even get his own movie. A tepid Batman vs. Superman whose only bright moment was the introduction of Wonder Woman. An Aquaman who hasn’t had anything to do since Justice League (5 years ago). A Flash movie that is under a toxic cloud. A Suicide Squad and a The Suicide Squad. I mean, wtf are they building over there? Which is why it will take them a long time before they have a scene in a movie that makes us gasp the way Okoye getting stripped of her rank did. Which is why it will take them a long, long time before the death of a secondary character will hit us the way Ramonda’s death did. You can’t rush that kind of emotion, but DC just doesn’t want to take the time to build a real foundation. They only appear to build the Hollywood fronts old Westerns used back in the day- a passable facade with nothing behind it.

As I said, Wakanda Forever has its flaws, but it will get a lot of goodwill because of the subject matter that carries this movie (how do we move on from grief?), and how it reflects real life events that led up to it. And that’s okay. Sometimes we all need a good cry. I hope Chadwick Boseman would be proud. 

I’d give this 8//10. (For comparison, I’d give Dr. Strange/MoM 7/10 and Thor: Love and Thunder 6/10. For DC comparison, I thought The Batman was 7/10.)

There is one post-credit scene. It comes fairly quickly after the last scene.

[theuntitledblog]

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) - REVIEW (SPOILER ALERT)

SYNOPSIS

Wakanda is in mourning following the unexpected death of King T'Challa which has left Queen Ramonda and Princess Shuri with the task of leading Wakanda against the threats posed by intervening world powers. As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, a new power emerges from the Earth's ocean in the form of Namor who challenges Wakanda in ways it has never been challenged before.

No other film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has arrived with such a weight of genuine sadness upon it as reality and fiction merge to acknowledge onscreen the real life passing of lead star Chadwick Boseman. There wasn't really any way for Ryan Coogler to avoid it and to his credit, Wakanda Forever tackles it head on with the greatest of respects being paid. The story has to acknowledge it as well with impact of that loss reverberating throughout the whole story and particularly influencing the character work. As a sequel to 2018's Black Panther, Wakanda Forever builds upon all the successful elements of that film and attempts to elevate them further with a bigger story that touches upon modern themes and showcasing the talents of its impressive cast. Black Panther boasted one of the best ensemble cast of characters in an MCU solo project and here they equally carry the load while this particular brand of the MCU looks to reboot itself with a new lead and renewed focus. In this sense alone it is a general success but when considered as a whole, it doesn't quite match the leaness of the first film for me nor does it quite manage to fully fill the absence caused by Boseman's sad death. If nothing else however, it is a moving tribute to Chadwick Boseman and takes some interesting and welcome steps in securing his legacy in the role of T'Challa.

Wakanda Forever doesn't immediately lean towards a new lead character; you might be able to guess going in who the successor to the Black Panther will be but throughout much of its runtime it doesn't make that clear. Given the collective popularity and strength of Letitia Wright's Shuri, Lupita Nyongo's Nakia, Danai Gurira's Okoye and even Winston Duke's M'Baku as characters, this isn't really an issue. Angela Bassett's Queen Ramonda is a particular triumph following her comparatively smaller role in Black Panther but Ryan Coogler ensures that each of the main characters have a significant role to play at different points during the rather lengthy runtime. But the burden of lead does eventually fall, as I suppose it inevitably would, to Letitia Wright who does as good a job as could be expected given that she is carrying the biggest share of the on screen weight of Boseman's death. She fully convinces as a lost and angry Shuri who is true to character by hiding behind her technology and rejecting tradition as she mourns T'Challa's death. But she still has a way to go for me to fully convince as an action star even though she isn't really given much to showcase what she can do as the Black Panther.

As a sequel, Wakanda Forever does a lot right. Much like the first, the costume design and music is incredible and helps maintain its unique style and aesthetic within the MCU. While T'Challa's death underpins everything emotionally, his death does also have the consequence of adding a sense of vulnerability to the powerful nation of Wakanda and its main characters. There is no Black Panther following Killmonger's burning of the Heart-Shaped Flower and this weakness is only amplified by the arrival of Namor (Tenoch Huerta) and the warriors of the kingdom of Talokan. There are some hard hitting set pieces and enough character development done with Namor to ensure he is more than just your standard villain. There is also the threat posed by CIA head Valentina de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) which is another promising story strand that runs parallel to Namor as the nations of the world scavenge the planet looking for more Vibranium. However this is a story that feels like it's being held back slightly for a potential Black Panther 3 or even the Ironheart series and therefore doesn't reach full fruition. What this does do however is create some genuine threat which is not something the MCU has always been very good at so Coogler deserves credit for me again here.

Wakanda Forever has perhaps too much going on and isn't quite able to bring everything to a head in a fully satisfying way. While the conflict with Namor is well handled, the final set piece feels beneath the film as a whole and seems like a obligation rather than an essential piece of this story. Likewise the debut of Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) despite enjoying good chemistry with Shuri and even a few moments with Okoye, generally lacked depth as a character and the Ironheart concept felt unexplored. These aren't enough to bring down the film completely because it is a generally well crafted sequel and a character driven affair that hits strong emotional beats especially with T'Challa's death firmly at the centre. It's a funnier film despite the aura of sadness upon it, the set pieces are suitably thrilling for the most part and the characters remain the greatest asset of the Black Panther series.

VERDICT

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is a wonderful tribute to its late star but Ryan Coogler's story judges it perfectly with the emotional weight elevating the film in general. Led by its incredible cast, Wakanda Forever is a well crafted sequel that builds on story elements of first Black Panther to thrilling effect even if it has perhaps too much going on to satisfy fully.

4/5

[obscurest-reference]

spoiler free Wakanda Forever post

i enjoyed it! a lot! i think they did a really good job of honoring Chadwick Boseman and portraying the family's (and friends') grief. the storyline and pacing is really well done too, if anything there maybe could've been more action but otherwise everything was on point. it felt the most like a pre-Endgame movie compared to the rest of the post-Endgame movies.

Riri is so much fun and so is Shuri, their dynamic was fun to watch. Shuri/M'Baku's relationship and solidarity was very very well portrayed and i loved that too. Angela Bassett did an incredible job. and i think Tenoch Huerta as Namor somehow managed to steal my sexuality (or lack therof). how does one steal asexuality? idk but he did it

[moviewarfare]

A Review of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)”

I enjoyed the first Black Panther film and loved Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa. I was looking forward to seeing him more in the MCU which is why his passing was heartbreaking. The sequel then had a tough choice on whether to recast T'Challa or not. Marvel Studios decided to go down the route of not recasting him which I understand but was a little disappointed by. I love the character of T'Challa and having his journey in the MCU end so prematurely was slightly saddening. Did Ryan Coogler make the right choice, or was this an unfortunate misstep?

I have to say that this is indeed one of the most emotional and mature Marvel films in a long time. The choice to have T'Challa killed off is handled with the utmost respect and care within the story. Shuri is the main central character and the emotional core is about her grief with her brother's death. The story does a phenomenal job of illustrating her emotional journey which is deep and compelling. We also get to see how other characters handle the passing such as Ramonda and their way of handling grief which is different from Shuri. I appreciated that as people do indeed handle grief differently. One issue with MCU movies lately is the overabundance of comedy. Thankfully, this movie does not do that and for the most part, is a very serious movie. The beginning and ending are wonderfully done as well and are not typical of Marvel.

It is clear that Chadwick's passing affected the actors as their performance is stunning. Letitia Wright gives a vastly different performance as Shuri that shows the pain and anger of her loss. Danai Gurira also delivers a great performance as Okoye and Lupita Nyong'o as Nakia respectively. Winston Duke returns as M'Baku and is still more or less the funny character but there are some great moments of serious from him that I love. Tenoch Huerta Mejía is the antagonist Namor, King of the underwater country Talokan, and I think he does a great job. He is fearsome and royal but his performance is quite charming with some heart. The biggest performance standout comes from Angela Bassett as Ramonda. Her performance is phenomenal! I am not surprised she got the best supporting actress because it is that good.

On that note, I really like that Talokan does not look like Atlantis from Aquaman (2019). The design is more traditional and inspired by Mesoamerican which is a great choice. Ludwig Göransson returns to compose the soundtrack and he just continues to do a brilliant job. There is a scene where it is about exploring Talokan which sticks in my mind because of the great design and the amazing music score. In terms of action scenes, there is a pretty enjoyable car chase near the beginning that I liked.

However, that is the only action scene I enjoyed. One thing this film does not do as well is the action scenes. The first issue is that there aren't a lot of action scenes and the second is that every action scene after the car chase is not entertaining. The choreography is not as well done and the final fight is just dull. The final fight is also logically baffling tactically as it felt like an incredibly silly and dumb plan. The movie just lacked a lot of triumphant moments that would make you cheer. It doesn't help that this movie is an incredibly slow burner with it taking a while for things to happen. The movie is really long at 160 minutes as well and it didn't even need to be. The movie could cut 20 minutes of its runtime and most of the core story stays the same.

In terms of story, they try to incorporate the idea of other countries going for Vibranium ever since T'Challa opened Wakanda to the world. I don't think they do a good job at this as it felt distracting from the main conflict. Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) returns from the first film and Valentina (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) returns from other Marvel projects. However, their incorporation into the plot is forced and doesn't add to the main narrative. One issue I have with Phase 4 of MCU is this running theme of kids being hunted down by bad guys. It happened in Doctor Strange 2 and Hawkeye but also here in Wakanda forever with Riri Williams being hunted by Namor. It's it flame as it feels like it was done to give Riri a TV series rather than being an integral character plot-wise. I also don't think the film does a good job of showing how Talokan is a huge threat. Their tech feels minimal compared to Wakanda so it is hard to believe that Wakanda would struggle against them.

Overall, Ryan Coogler handled this wonderfully. He treated the passing of Chadwick with the utmost respect, and I got to admire that. I don't think this movie is as good as the first one but it is definitely one of the more emotional ones. I'm not sure what direction Black Panther can go in now but whatever it is, I hope it retains the mature take of Wakanda Forever.

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[movie-magic]

Will Black Panther: Wakanda Forever introduce Namor to the MCU?

Ryan Coogler's Marvel sequel could have just added a significant character - but what might happen when the King of Atlantis clashes with Wakanda?

Director Ryan Coogler has an incredibly tough job in following up his 2018 Black Panther solo movie after the tragic death of Chadwick Boseman – but if a new rumour is to be believed, then he’s expanding his corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a big way. As reported by notable scoopers The Illuminerdi, it seems like the highly-anticipated sequel will introduce one of Marvel’s oldest heroes: Namor the Sub-Mariner.

Last year, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Narcos: Mexico star Tenoch Huerta was in talks to join the sequel in a villain role, although no other details surfaced at the time. But this latest rumour suggests Huerta will take a dive to play the first live-action version of Namor - also meaning that Coogler might introduce yet another hidden kingdom in the MCU, Atlantis.

For the moment, it’s still not clear how the Black Panther sequel will address the loss of Boseman, but introducing Namor could be an interesting way of looking at the potential power vacuum left behind in Wakanda.

Many fans assume that Coogler will simply pass the Black Panther mantle over to Letitia Wright’s Shuri (T’Challa’s sister) and what better way of throwing her in the deep end than pitting her against another super-powered monarch?

And it’s not like this is the first time theories about Namor’s appearance in the MCU have sent fans into a frenzy. Back in the fledgling, Paramount days of Marvel Studios, a S.H.I.E.L.D. world map in the background of an Iron Man 2 scene circled a random spot in the ocean off the western coast of Africa - with many taking it as a subtle reference to the underwater nation of Atlantis.

Fast-forward to 2019 in Avengers: Endgame and Wakandan warrior Okoye (Danai Gurira) updated the team on an underwater earthquake that also happened a few miles off the coast, putting it within reasonable distance from Wakanda. However, she was careful to note that they “handle it by not handling it”, clearly being cautious of the situation. It’s not clear whether the Wakandans are aware of Atlantis in the MCU, but with their advanced level of technology it would be highly surprising if they weren’t.

But is there anything to back up the report from The Illuminerdi? Well, the site also claims that earlier casting news over two ‘Mayan warriors’ named Cadmael and Zyanya was actually misdirection, and they’re codenames for two supporting Atlantean characters; Attuma and Namora. Attuma is a vicious barbarian who is part of an exiled sect of Atlanteans because of their anti-royalist views, and he often tries to overthrow Namor and take the crown for himself. Meanwhile, Namora is Namor’s cousin (not by blood) and it’s been teased that they have a closer, romantic relationship.

The Illuminerdi didn’t offer any supposed plot details about how the trio of Atlanteans might factor into Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, but as we already mentioned, early reports labelled Huerta’s role as an antagonist in the story. If Attuma does appear, he probably won’t attempt a coup in Atlantis, since that would be a rehash of the first film with Michael B. Jordan’s Killmonger. So it’ll be interesting to see what puts Namor on a collision course with the Wakandans if he does indeed show up.

And did we mention this would be a sneaky way of introducing mutants into the MCU? Sure, the King of Atlantis wasn’t actually intended to be a mutant with the X-gene when he debuted in Marvel Comics #1 in 1939, but the company retroactively made him one in 1963 when he faced off with Reed Richards and his family during Fantastic Four Annual #1. Much like Aquaman over on the DC Comics side of things, Namor reigns over Atlantis and often clashes with humanity over the way it treats the oceans. But he has often aided the Avengers and the X-Men against various threats.

So, if Tenoch Huerta will indeed suit up as Namor in the MCU, it could lead to much bigger ramifications further down the line. Does he know any other mutants out in the world? Has he come across a certain X-citing team? Who knows? Obviously the only real question is whether Kevin Feige makes the star wear Namor’s classic seaweed pants...

- Radiotimes

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is set for release in July 2022.