Overview
In the hearts and minds of Marvel Cinematic Universe viewers, Chadwick Boseman will be Black Panther forever. In the upcoming sequel to 2018's excellent Black Panther, however, a new version of the hero is on its way. Thanks to the initial trailer for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever from back in July, Marvel already established that King T'Challa has passed away, his nation is in mourning and his absence is heavily felt — and in the just-dropped new sneak peek, that results in someone else donning the titular figure's suit.
As for who that is, Wakanda Forever is keeping coy about the answer even in the new footage, although it's easy to take a few guesses. The latest trailer also keeps reckoning with another question that was always going to linger over this second effort, and will be solved in November when the film hits cinemas: how do you jump back into a superhero saga — a caped-crusader franchise within a sprawling, seemingly never-ending franchise, too — without your star?
Given Boseman's death in 2020, this sequel obviously isn't the film that returning writer/director Ryan Coogler (Creed) initially intended, and an unsurprisingly emotional time awaits. That said, while the first sneak peek played up the sorrow across Wakanda — complete with a tribute to King T'Challa among its frames — the new Wakanda Forever glimpse sets an action-packed tone.
Plot-wise, the story picks up with Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett, Gunpowder Milkshake), Shuri (Letitia Wright, Death on the Nile), M'Baku (Winston Duke, Nine Days), Okoye (Danai Gurira, The Walking Dead) and the Dora Milaje (including Florence Kasumba, Deutschland89) charged with protecting their nation from world powers after T'Challa's death — with help from War Dog Nakia (Lupita Nyong'o, The 355) and Everett Ross (Martin Freeman, Breeders).
But life on land isn't their only threat. Thanks to a hidden undersea nation called Talokan — and Namor (Tenoch Huerta, Narcos: Mexico), its king — Wakanda seems to have a pressing for a hero like Black Panther.
Also among Wakanda Forever's cast: Michaela Coel (I May Destroy You) and Dominique Thorne (Judas and the Black Messiah), with the latter playing Riri Williams ahead of the character's solo Disney+ series Ironheart
When the initial trailer dropped, Marvel revealed that Wakanda Forever will wrap up the MCU's phase four — because this ever-growing on-screen superhero world is broken up into different chapters. Obviously, more caped-crusader stories are still in the works, though, with the Disney-owned entertainment behemoth also plotting out its plans across phase five and phase six, taking it up to 2025.
Check out the latest Black Panther: Wakanda Forever trailer below:
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever releases in cinemas Down Under on November 10.
Images: courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2022 MARVEL.