‘Wakanda Forever’ Leaves Door Open for a Classic Villain

The poster is fa-bu-lous!! ~ V

The ‘Black Panther’ sequel is poised to be a meditation on monarchs and could even introduce a ‘Fantastic Four’ antagonist earlier than expected.

“Only the most broken people can be great leaders.”

~ Namor (Tenoch Huerta)

While the first trailer for Ryan Coogler’s highly-anticipated sequel conveyed a message of grief as the central characters mourned the death of King T’Challa, reflecting audiences’ continued grief over the loss of Chadwick Boseman, the latest trailer puts a greater focus on the film’s narrative. It even hints at the inclusion of a key Marvel villain that hasn’t been announced.

Although there is still a somber tone, one that I suspect will permeate the film as a means to permit collective grieving over Boseman, this trailer is a confirmation that the death of T’Challa will not make the world smaller.

Rather, Wakanda Forever looks to offer a larger tapestry to re-frame T’Challa’s legacy and consider how loss shapes a nation. Arguably, the latest trailer doesn’t evoke a superhero movie at all, at least not the ones we’re used to, but rather an epic unfolding through tragedy, faith, and the determination to lay claim to the future.

Namor is not the typical comic-book movie antagonist, and the new footage in the trailer goes to lengths to prove that point, providing glimpses of Namor’s Mayan culture, regality, and place among his people that obviously makes him a foil to T’Challa, just as human and just as driven by duty to his people and his god.

With T’Challa gone, Namor is a King without peer ,which makes his introduction all the more interesting. Of course, it’s natural to lament the fact that we won’t see T’Challa and Namor square off in this movie, Namor’s inclusion speaks to Coogler’s interest in examining the idea of the throne as a people rather than a person.