SPOILER ALERT This story contains major spoilers, including the ending and midcredits scene. “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,”Presently in Theaters
At San Diego Comic-Con in July, Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige took to the Hall H stage and for the first time delineated the grand plan for the Multiverse Saga — including that “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” which opened this weekend, would mark the conclusion of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase 4. This designation is however symbolic rather than literal.
“Wakanda Forever” is unmistakably an extraordinary event, serving as a poignant farewell both to the franchise’s late star, Chadwick Boseman, and the stirring hero he portrayed, King T’Challa. The movie doesn’t really end in the context of Marvel Cinematic Universe. Unlike 2012’s “The Avengers”(The conclusion of Phase 1 and “Avengers: Age of Ultron” (the conclusion of Phase 2), Ryan Coogler’s film does not pull together different storytelling strands from previous MCU movies into a climatic team-up adventure, nor does it set the stage for the grander story yet to unfold.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s peripatetic role as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (mysterious government operative) continues. According to reports, she has been promoted from the position of director of CIA. But even as Wakanda grieves the loss of T’Challa, no other MCU superhero makes an appearance — not Sam Wilson or Bucky Barnes, not Doctor Strange or Clint Barton, not Thor or Valkyrie or Bruce Banner, all of whom have played major roles in Phase 4.
Instead, “Wakanda Forever”Does what almost every film and streaming series did in Phase 4. Rather than weaving together a coherent storytelling tapestry, each film tells its own story while adding new branches to the growing multiverse of the MCU. Even the post credits scenes are now less about teasering future MCU movies, but instead focus on seeding new characters in each franchise. This is how Harry Styles, Charlize Thon, and Brett Goldstein appear for just two seconds as key MCU characters, but no MCU title. (More about that in a moment.)
You can see the film in its entirety. “Wakanda Forever” introduces the superpowered Namor (Tenoch Huerta Mejía) and the secret underwater kingdom of Talokan as the only civilization on Earth other than Wakanda to benefit from the wonders of vibranium. That reality puts the realms in violent opposition to each other until Namor and Wakanda’s new Black Panther, Shuri (Letitia Wright), declare a truce. At the end of the film, Namor predicts that the rest of the world’s covetousness of Wakanda’s vibranium will require the country to turn to Talokan as an ally — which sounds much more like a set up for “Black Panther 3”More than anything that has to do with the larger Multiverse Saga.
The storyline for Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), a brand new character, continues in a similar fashion. “Wakanda Forever”That will continue next season on Disney+ “Ironheart,” which Coogler’s Proximity Media is producing with Marvel Studios.
Namor and Riri are both fabulous additions to the MCU, as are the charismatic actors who portray them, and there’s every reason to expect they could play a role in future movies beyond the “Black Panther” franchise — but how they could figure within the Multiverse Saga itself remains unclear. (Also if someone in “Wakanda Forever” was going to mention the gargantuan marble statue of a planet-sized Celestial suddenly appearing in the Indian Ocean — i.e. the climax of 2021’s “Eternals” — you’d think it would be Namor. Alas, he doesn’t and neither does anyone else. Continue the cosmic gaslighting!
And then there’s the film’s mid-credits scene, which is so sublime and moving that I’m going to warn any readers who haven’t seen “Wakanda Forever” to wait until they’ve seen the film to continue with this piece. It’s possible to wait!
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OK: After spending the film avoiding her grief for her brother, the movie ends with Shuri traveling to Haiti and the beachside home of T’Challa’s beloved, Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o). Shuri sits by the water, burns her funeral garments per Wakanda custom, and finally mourns T’Challa. After the film’s main credits play, however, the movie cuts right back to Shuri on that beach. Nakia is approached by a 5-year-old boy who holds her hand. Nakia introduces her son to him, Toussaint. He is the name of Toussaint Loup, a former slave who led Haitian Revolution in the late 18th-century. Then Toussaint tells Shuri his Wakandan name, which he shares with his father: T’Challa.
This scene is one of the most beautiful moments of gentle grace that The MCU has ever seen. Further complications are also implied by the scene. “Black Panther 3,”Given the confusing nature of things “Wakanda Forever” ends with M’Baku (Winston Duke) making a play for the throne, seemingly with Shuri’s blessing. MCU enthusiasts who are savvy may also notice that this is yet another member in the line-up of young superheroes to be that have been a consistent since Phase 4. “WandaVision,” Eli Bradley (Elijah Richardson) on “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,”Kid Loki (Jack Veal). “Loki,” Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) on “Hawkeye,” America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) in “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) on “Ms. Marvel”Love (India Hemsworth), in “Thor: Love and Thunder.”
The most telling thing about this however is the “Wakanda Forever”The post-credits scene concludes Phase 4. There’s no indication of what lies ahead for Phase 5, or Phase 6. It’s not like Thanos smiling over his shoulder, or Nick Fury activating the Captain Marvel pager. Instead, it’s a quiet scene of a family beginning to mend its ragged emotional wounds through the promise of a new generation.