Even the most ardent of Marvel Cinematic Universe supporters are starting to admit that Phase Four hasn’t been the greatest stage of the franchise’s constant evolution, but all it’s taken is one full-length trailer for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever to win over many of the doubters.
While the post-Avengers: Endgame slate has proven to be the most polarizing set of projects to emerge from the MCU ever since Iron Man launched in the summer of 2008, the hype for Ryan Coogler’s sequel is real. Wakanda Forever may not manage to reach the heights of its predecessor at the box office, but based on the responses to the latest promo, it could certainly match it in terms of quality.
Following up a cultural phenomenon that netted over $1.3 billion from theaters and scooped an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture is a tough enough task as it is, never mind the shadow cast over the production by the death of Chadwick Boseman. Based on the footage we’ve seen so far, though, the Black Panther sequel looks incredible.
The emotions, scope, scale, spectacle, and ante have all been significantly upped, and with Namor introducing another mutant into the mix and Riri Williams preparing to be spun off into her own Disney Plus series, there’s going to be a lot of world-building and narrative heavy lifting into the bargain, too.
We’re little over a month away from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever coming to theaters, and it’s poised to turn the tide of opinion on Phase Four as a whole if it can even come close to living up to expectations.