There's a lot of intrigue surrounding Eyes of Wakanda, Marvel Animation's Black Panther prequel set in the MCU. The four-episode series will also introduce a new Iron Fist, albeit hundreds of years in the past.
Eyes of Wakanda will flesh out the world that the Black Panther calls home, following the Hatut Zaraze, Wakanda's "Dogs of War," a CIA-like defence group tasked with retrieving Vibranium artefacts from Wakanda's enemies.
Entertainment Weekly brings word today that the show will now premiere all four 30-minute episodes much sooner than expected on August 1. Eyes of Wakanda was previously announced for an August 27 launch, so this is a welcome surprise.
Talking to the site, showrunner Todd Harris said, "My goal for the whole show was to do the thing that a movie has trouble doing, which is making the world bigger. It is a nation with multiple zip codes. It was mostly just expanding the backdrop of the world that Ryan was able to establish, with just a little bit more time and a few more opportunities at the watering hole."
"These things have been around for this long, really spreading out the mythology of Wakanda," he continued, revealing that the first episode revolves around Noni, a former member of Wakanda's Dora Milaje and a prospective new candidate for the Hatut Zaraze.
The character is described as "a James Bond version of a Dora who just doesn't tow the company line," and in 1260 B.C., she's tasked with taking down the Lion, a former Wakandan who took their nation's technology and turned himself into a warlord. Now, he needs to be stopped before he can conquer Crete in Greece.
"We always knew we needed an inciting incident," Harris shared. "I kind of went off of Apocalypse Now. What if Wakanda turned into their Colonel? That combined with a Thulsa Doom, an Atlantian in Conan who was from a much older civilization, who created as an empire off of the existing world."
"So with those two themes going into it, that's the kind of thing that would bring Wakanda into the situation where legitimate resources have to be put towards it," he added.
Throughout Wakandan history, brave warriors have been tasked to travel the world retrieving dangerous Vibranium artefacts. Eyes of Wakanda is their story, and premieres on Disney+ on August 27 1. Check out some new stills from the series below.