Ryan Coogler delivers again with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is the talk of the town this winter season, and I mean understandable considering the success of the first movie! Wakanda Forever had a lot to follow up on from the previous film but in the end, left me with an undeniable connection with the characters that was pure. I was stunned to believe that Ryan Coogler, the director of the film, was able to effortlessly continue the essence of what made the first film so captivating and doing so without the lead that soared the franchise in the first place. 

The movie introduces a new antagonist, Namor(Tenoch Huerta) from Talokan Kingdom and it seems as if he is the villain this time around. I would disagree and say he was more of the anti-hero(think Catwomen/Red Hood from the DC franchise) only because it seemed as though he was well intentioned but it didn’t exactly seem that way based on his actions throughout the film. Namor and his people were in conflict with Wakanda over a “scientist” who made a machine that could find vibranium(that precious metal from the first film), and surprise! This machine can essentially locate where Namor and his people hide from the outside world(much like Wakanda), Talokan, is loaded with vibranium and, obviously, he is going to feel threatened and believe his city will become unsafe as long as this scientist is around. 

Yeah well, this “scientist” is quite literally just a kid. Lo and behold, drum roll please! DUNDUNDUN DUNDUNDUN, RiRi Williams (Dominique Thorne), a 19 year-old Black girl who attends MIT. She’s also been a deemed a prodigy with building machines, and small stuff since she was a child. The entire time RiRi was unaware of the fact that one of her machines she built for her class was being used to find vibranium by the government. 

Speaking of such, can I just say Dominique portrayed Riri so well? Her acting skills in addition to Black Panther’s amazing script equals a loveable character; she had so much chemistry with every person on screen (platonically…and possibly romantically). I just loved her on screen, Riri is that type of character you see once, and fall in love with, just because of the way they are, you know? I know for a fact she won over everyone’s heart by threatening the princess of Wakanda, and the general of Dora Milaje with an air conditioner! 

In addition to that, I loved the casting for this movie. The casting and locations were so diverse; there were people from Mexico, Zimbabwe, Guyana, and Ghana. 

For a movie to have such great casting and shining the light on so many Black women, with a connection to cultural roots is amazing to see on screen again! Just seeing someone on screen who looks like you is such a huge step in the movie industry, and for black children as well, who won’t have to worry about not seeing black superheroes. 

I know we all witnessed  how beautiful Talokan is, the way they captured it with the choice of the song, and Shuri’s reaction was *Chefs kiss*, it was just so breathtaking(it’s built off of vibranium, so of course it’s going to be that way!) 

But, in all seriousness I totally recommend that you watch Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. It’s one of my top 5 2022 movies, as of now!