Last night in Los Angeles, Marvel Studios gave Black Panther: Wakanda Forever a world premiere on Hollywood Boulevard. The early word from critics is that it serves as a fitting tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman and his character, T’Challa. It also sets the stage for the future by putting the spotlight on the female characters from the first film. During a taping of Jimmy Kimmel Live, two preview scenes from the movie were released. In the first clip, Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) explains to Okoye (Danai Gurira) why she couldn’t bear to stay in Wakanda after T’Challa’s death.
It’s a low-key moment that allows the story to slow down and process the grief felt by both Nakia and Okoye. They had very different relationships with T’Challa, but only Nakia loved him as a man rather than her king. The second clip is much shorter, and immediately follows the first scene in the video above. This time, Okoye and Letitia Wright’s Shuri are aggressively recruiting Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne). And poor Riri just doesn’t know what to make of these warrior women.
Why is Riri so important? Because she is a technical genius who has created her own suit of Iron Man-like armor. She will also be rising to greater prominence in the MCU next year with the debut of Ironheart on Disney+. It’s not clear what role Riri will play in Wakanda Forever, but it seems like Wakanda wants to bring her into the fold.
Returning performers from the first Black Panther include Angela Bassett as Queen Ramonda, Winston Duke as M’Baku, Florence Kasumba as Ayo, and Martin Freeman as Everett K. Ross. Newcomers to the cast include Michaela Coel as Aneka and Tenoch Huerta as Namor, the Sub-Mariner. Namor leads the underwater kingdom of Talokan that comes into conflict with Wakanda.
Ryan Coogler directed the sequel and co-wrote the script with Joe Robert Cole. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will hit theaters on Friday, November 11.
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