Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Earns Raves After World Premiere

Last night, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever made its world premiere in Hollywood, and according to the buzz, it’s a Marvel masterpiece. First reactions post the screening see critics and theatergoers calling the highly anticipated sequel directed by Ryan Coogler “Marvel’s most poignant and power film.”

Debuting in 2018, Black Panther was one of Marvel’s biggest successes, grossing $700 million at the domestic box office and $1.3 billion worldwide, and becoming the first superhero comic movie to earn a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars. Wakanda Forever comes after the death of Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman in 2020 after a private battle with colon cancer at age 43. The sequel picks up after the death of Boseman’s King T’Challah, and is already earning praise for its deft handling of grief and loss. 

Film critic Orlando Enelcine tweeted that Wakanda Forever is “outstanding,” writing that “it handles loss, grief, and revenge with a maturity and seriousness rarely seen in the MCU.” Collider’s Perri Nemiroff tweeted that the film was “excellent” and “an immensely powerful story of forging forward—shattering at times but also beautifully cathartic and heartening.”  

Others praised the ensemble cast of the film, which stars Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, Dominique Thorne, Florence Kasumba, Michaela Coel, Tenoch Huerta, Martin Freeman, and Angela Bassett. “Great performances from Gurira, Bassett, Wright & Thorne,” tweeted @KevinMcCarthyTV. “Huerta was INCREDIBLE.” The Hollywood Reporter writer Brian David says that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has passed the bar set by the original film, tweeting that “the craft work levels up in every conceivable way, and the performances rise to the occasion.”