Black Panther sequel lets fans, cast members grieve

THE latest offering in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, hit theatres worldwide last week, and looks to be yet another hit film in the blockbuster superhero franchise.

Reviews for the film have noted how it pays tribute to Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman, who passed away in 2020 after a private battle with cancer. Most commended director Ryan Coogler and the cast of the film for carrying on his legacy in the sequel, which features a revised script in which Boseman’s character T’Challa is also revealed to have died.

Aside from allowing fans a chance to grieve both the actor and the character, Coogler also takes the opportunity to highlight some real-world issues of colonisation in the film – and showcase a cast of Black and Latinx actors – through the erupting conflict between Wakanda and the underwater kingdom of Talokan, led by the mutant Namor.

Both nations find themselves under attack from other nations who want their shared Vibranium resources, but ultimately go to war with each other over differences in how to deal with the outside threat.

Mexican-born, Kenya-raised actress Lupita Nyong’o, who plays Nakia in the film, told Yahoo Entertainment: “It draws a correlation of how distinct the experiences are, but also how similar. Our wounds are so similar. And we see this in this story. Talokan echoes Wakanda, as much as the Latinx experience can echo the Black experience.

“And at the end of the day, it’s, ‘OK, where is our point of truce? When do we see ourselves in the mirror?’”

Actor Tenoch Huerta, who plays Namor, cited the events of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, also known as the Conquest of Mexico, in the early 1500s.

“In the end, we share the same wounds,” he said. “This catastrophe, this holocaust that happened to our people, our ancestors, it was almost at the same time [of the Atlantic slave trade]. Now, years later, we are trying to [reconcile] with ourselves, and with the other people.

“So I think this movie and this kind of narrative helps to create this union and bondage among all of us.”

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