In the wake of Chadwick Boseman's tragic passing, Marvel Studios decided not to recast the role of T'Challa for the Black Panther sequel, and instead bring the women who were so important to The King to the forefront while exploring the different ways his loss affects each of them.
The Black Panther: Wakanda Forever press event took place yesterday afternoon, and CBM was in attendance. One of the questions put to director Ryan Coogler and producer Nate Moore asked about the shift in focus to the female characters introduced in the first film while also debuting Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne).
Moore made it clear that it wasn't a conscious effort to spotlight women while sideling men, but rather the natural progression of this story.
"It's not about pushing women forward or holding men back; it's about telling a story that's organic. I think sometimes, maybe from the outside, there's a thought that there are agendas at play. But it's just telling good stories, and we are blessed with an amazing cast who breathes life into these characters and makes you want to see what's happening with Shuri or what's happening with Okoye. To not highlight them would have been a disservice to the story, and so I think the movies better for it. If we would have had to wedge in some new male characters just to have that voice, that would have seemed more performative than then just telling the story we told."
Of course, Wakanda Forever does introduce one male character who makes a huge impact on the movie and the women of Wakanda in Tenoch Huerta's Namor - but let's not forget about M'Baku!
"I will say that M'Baku was in this movie more than he was in the first Black Panther," added Coogler. "Probably like a two-to-one ratio, and probably twice as many scenes as he got in the first one. He's there, but Nate's absolutely right. When you lose somebody, there's a blast radius. It's like a bomb that goes off, and who was the closest to it? That's who we explored."
In Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Shuri (Letitia Wright), M’Baku (Winston Duke), Okoye (Danai Gurira), and the Dora Milaje (including Florence Kasumba), fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T’Challa’s death. As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with the help of War Dog Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) and Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) and forge a new path for the kingdom of Wakanda. Introducing Tenoch Huerta as Namor, king of a hidden undersea nation, the film also stars Dominique Thorne, Michaela Coel, Mabel Cadena, and Alex Livanalli.
Full reviews are embargoed until November 9th, but critics were allowed to share their social media reactions on Thursday (you'll find mine below).