It’s been a fraught wait, as eager fans pontificated what kind of film would emerge in the aftermath of original star Chadwick Boseman’s death, but that wait is almost over. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever hits cinemas on November 10.
Director Ryan Coogler once again marshals an incredible cast to tell the epic tale of the high tech African kingdom, with Letitia Wright returning as Princess Shuri, Angela Bassett as Queen Ramonda, Danai Gurira as warrior woman Okoye, Winstone Duke as the ferocious M’Baku, Lupita Nyong’o as Nakia, and Martin Freeman as CIA agent Everett Ross all returning.
New in the mix are Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams aka Ironheart, a teen tech genius walking in Tony Stark’s footprints, and, crucially, Mexican actor Tenoch Huerta as Namor, leader of the undersea kingdom of Talokan (it was Atlantis in the comics, but the Distinguished Competition seem to have that patch staked out on the big screen). The arrogant, vengeful, but noble Namor has been a hero and a villain at various points in the character’s long history, and here he seems to be in the latter category, leading his amphibious people in battle against Wakanda.
Namor is also known as Marvel’s First Mutant, which means this might, technically, maybe count as the first canonical appearance of a mutant in the Marvel Cinematic Universe main timeline (discounting Patrick Stewart’s appearance in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, since he’s from another dimension). Yeah, we know that Hugh Jackman is gearing up to play Wolverine again in Deadpool 3, but that’s most likely gonna be a throwaway gag, so does it really count? (These questions are the stuff that angry twitter debates are made of).
In the wake of Avengers: Endgame, Marvel’s screen output has been a bit patchy, if we’re being perfectly honest, but Black Panther: Wakanda Forever looks the business. November 10 can’t come soon enough.
