In the new trailer of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, a legacy is honored while a new hope is celebrated.
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We get the best glimpse yet into the future of the Afrofuturist kingdom with the new official trailer of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The breathtaking extended look of the sequel to the groundbreaking Black Panther is a visual, aural, and thematic feast which overall honors the legacy of Chadwick Boseman and his T’Challa. We also get a look at the new Vibranium super-suit and a new figure taking on the mantle after the tragic death of the actor in 2020.
THE FUTURE OF WAKANDA
The trailer opens with T’Challa’s poignant but hopeful funeral, honoring the past and signaling a new beginning. It features the return of familiar faces like T’Challa’s mother, Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), and his sister, Shuri (Letitia Wright). Also reprising their roles are Winston Duke who plays the Jabari tribe leader, M’Baku, Lupita Nyong’o’s Nakia, who is a War Dog operative and T’Challa’s lover, and Danai Gurira’s Okoye, the leader of the Dora Milaje warriors.
Exciting, new characters are also present, including The Midnight Angels queer fighter Aneka, played by Michaela Coel’s who is seen in a blue-colored suit. Dominique Thorne’s Riri Williams will also debut in the sequel as the young power-suited hero Ironheart (inspired by Tony Spark’s Iron Man).
But what stands out as a revelation is Wakanda Forever’s primary antagonist in the name of Namor (played by Mexican actor Tenoch Huerta), the leader of the underwater civilization, Talocan. Complete with his intimidating spear and winged feet, Namor dominates the trailer runtime, flying and fighting together with his people, even summoning the waters against the technologically-advanced Wakanda.
“His people do not call him general or king. They call him K’uk’ulkan, the feather serpent god. Killing him risks eternal war,” M’baku warns in a forbidding tone, alluding to the Mayan-inspired antagonist.
THE NEXT BLACK PANTHER
When the equally tantalizing first teaser of Wakanda Forever was released months ago, many fans had speculated who would assume the titular character after seeing that powerful final shot with a new actor in the suit. In the new official trailer, it’s much clearer. All clues point to Shuri as the new Black Panther, especially because of that new mask with dot markings characteristic of the Wakandan princess’s look.
“It just felt like it was much too soon to recast,” Marvel boss Kevin Feige said about the decision not to recast the iconic superhero. “The conversations were entirely about, yes, ‘What do we do next? And how could the legacy of Chadwick – and what he had done to help Wakanda and the Black Panther become these incredible, aspirational, iconic ideas – continue? That’s what it was all about.”
This is not the first time that Shuri becomes Wakanda’s highest leader. It has a comics precedent most notably in the Dark Reign era Black Panther series that was launched in 2008.
“Shuri’s journey has allowed me to grieve, to cry, to laugh, and to gain strength that I never thought I could ever have,” said Wright in an interview, talking about how playing Shuri also allowed her to mourn the death of her colleague and friend Boseman.“ Trials and tribulations make you who you are. You either fold or you get up and go again. I feel like Shuri kept looking at me every day, asking me if I was gonna fold or go again. And I just kept going until healing started to happen for me.”
Wright’s Shuri also poses front and center in the Wakanda Forever poster released months ago, positioning her as the prime candidate for the suit. While Wright or director Ryan Coogler have not confirmed it yet, Shuri as the new leader of Wakanda joins the ranks of Marvel’s roster of female superheroes like Captain Marvel, Jane Foster’s Mighty Thor, Black Widow, She-Hulk, and the Wasp
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever hits theaters on November 11.
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