Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

T'Challa, king of Wakanda, is suffering from a terminal illness which his sister Shuri believes can be cured by the "heart-shaped herb". Shuri attempts to synthetically recreate the herb after it was burned by Erik "Killmonger" Stevens, but fails to do so before T'Challa dies. A year later, Wakanda faces pressure from other nations to share their vibranium, with attempts to steal it by force. Queen Ramonda urges Shuri to continue her herb research to create a new Black Panther, but Shuri refuses, believing the Black Panther is no longer needed. In the Atlantic, a U.S. expedition team uses a vibranium detector to find a deposit underwater, but a group of blue-skinned, water-breathing superhumans led by Namor kills them. The CIA suspects Wakanda's involvement. Namor confronts Ramonda and Shuri after bypassing Wakanda's security. He blames Wakanda for the vibranium race and gives them an ultimatum: hand over the scientist who created the detector or he will attack Wakanda. Shuri and Okoye learn from CIA agent Everett K. Ross that the scientist is MIT student Riri Williams. They confront her at the university before being pursued by the FBI and Namor's warriors, who defeat Okoye and take Shuri and Williams underwater to meet Namor. Angered by Okoye's failure to protect Shuri, Ramonda strips her of her title as general of the Dora Milaje and seeks out Nakia, who has been living in Haiti since the Blip. Namor shows Shuri his vibranium-rich underwater kingdom of Talokan, protected for centuries from the surface world. Bitter at the surface world for the slavery and genocide of his people, Namor proposes an alliance with Wakanda against the rest of the world, threatening destruction if they refuse. Nakia helps Shuri and Williams escape, accidentally killing two Talokanil guards. Namor retaliates with an attack on Wakanda, during which Ramonda drowns while saving Williams. Namor vows to return with his army, and Wakanda's citizens relocate to the Jabari mountains for their safety. Meanwhile, Ross is arrested by his ex-wife, CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, for secretly exchanging classified intelligence with Wakandans. After Ramonda's funeral, Shuri uses a remnant of the herb that gave Namor's people their superhuman abilities to reconstruct the heart-shaped herb. She ingests it, gaining superhuman abilities and meeting Killmonger in the Ancestral Plane, who questions if she will seek revenge or be as honorable as T'Challa. Shuri dons a new Black Panther suit and is accepted by the other Wakandan tribes as the Black Panther. Despite M'Baku's urges for peace, Shuri is determined to exact vengeance on Namor for Ramonda's death and orders an immediate counterattack on Talokan. Preparing for battle, with Ayo assuming the position of general of the Dora Milaje, Shuri bestows the Midnight Angel armor upon Okoye, who in turn recruits Dora Milaje member Aneka to join her. Williams creates an Iron Man-esque powered exoskeleton to aid the Wakandans. The Wakandans use a seafaring vessel to lure Namor and his warriors to the surface with a vibranium detector as battle ensues. Shuri traps Namor in a fighter aircraft, aiming to weaken him. They crash on a desert beach and fight. Shuri gains the upper hand but sees a vision of Ramonda, urging Namor to yield and offering a peaceful alliance. Namor agrees, ending the battle. His cousin, Namora, is upset by the surrender, but he believes the alliance will strengthen Talokan. Williams returns to MIT, leaving her suit behind, while Okoye rescues Ross. Shuri plants more heart-shaped herbs to ensure the Black Panther mantle's future. In her absence, M'Baku challenges for the throne. Shuri visits Nakia in Haiti and burns her funeral robe to finally grieve for T'Challa, honoring Ramonda's wishes. In a mid-credits scene, Shuri learns that Nakia and T'Challa had a son named Toussaint, whom Nakia has been raising in secret. Toussaint reveals his Wakandan name is T'Challa. == Cast ==

• Letitia Wright as Shuri / Black Panther:The princess of Wakanda who designs new technology for the nation. == Production ==

Development With the release of Black Panther in February 2018, producer Kevin Feige said there were "many, many stories" to tell about the character and he wanted director and co-writer Ryan Coogler to return for any sequel; Wright said only two other children auditioned for the role of T'Challa II besides Konadu-Sun. Having felt inspired to become an actor by Black Panther, Konadu-Sun read many scripts in order to audition, a process he found challenging due to the character being different to his own personality, and once he landed on the role, he opted to watch the MCU film Captain America: Civil War (2016) to prepare due to that being Boseman's first appearance as T'Challa. Several characters were considered to take on the mantle of Black Panther in the film, including Nakia and M'Baku, before Shuri was chosen. Aaron Toney, who served as fight coordinator on Wakanda Forever, confirmed that Namor's ankle wings are capable of growing back after a scene in the film showed one of them being cut off by Shuri. There had been discussions regarding the inclusion of a romance between Shuri and Namor in the film, but the idea was scrapped. Michael P. Shawver returned as editor from the first film, while Geoffrey Baumann served as the visual effects supervisor. The visual effects for Wakanda Forever were provided by Digital Domain, Industrial Light & Magic, Wētā FX, Cinesite, Rise FX, SSVFX, and Storm Studios. 2,233 out of the film's 2,548 shots involved the use of visual effects, which were created by more than a dozen VFX vendors. Perception designed the film's main-on-end title sequence, which depicts Shuri's funeral clothes being burned to reveal a Black Panther suit underneath. The sequence was filmed practically using a specialized fireproof Panavision camera, with Perception igniting controlled flames on cloth similar to the fabric worn by Shuri in the film. Sound editors Steve Boeddeker and Benny Burtt, who both worked on the film, used the sound of rattlesnakes for Namor's ankle wings, an idea Coogler suggested about two weeks before sound editing was completed. In late November 2022, Wētā FX supervisor Chris White revealed that Marvel Studios created a 200-page Talokan bible for the film that contains details about the kingdom such as its history, battle strategies, tools built, architecture, influence, and other elements. The next month, Shawver revealed that the film originally had a four-and-a-half-hour cut that included additional scenes featuring Talokan and the developing relationship between Shuri and Williams, as well as a subplot involving the two of them teaming up with Namor to accomplish an unspecified task. Shawver attributed the reduced cut of the film to changes in its "pacing", and added that the removal of that material caused the film's narrative to be reworked, which was done during reshoots. == Music ==

In September 2021, it was revealed that Ludwig Göransson was set to return as composer for Wakanda Forever from the first film. The series was produced by Actual Films, JM Films, and Proximity Media. The series was originally scheduled to be removed from Disney+ on May 26, 2023, as part of Disney's efforts to reduce content costs, but it was ultimately decided that it would remain on the service at that time. == Marketing ==

The first footage from the film was shown in a sizzle reel of Disney's upcoming films during the studio's presentation at CinemaCon in April 2022. Feige, Coogler, and the cast promoted the film at the 2022 San Diego Comic-Con alongside a live performance from singer Baaba Maal, tama player Massamba Diop, and other African drummers and dancers and the debut of the teaser trailer on July 23, 2022. It featured a cover of Bob Marley's "No Woman, No Cry" that transitions into Kendrick Lamar's "Alright" (2015). Both Leah Simpson and Giovana Gelhoren of People called the footage "powerful", while Sandra Gonzalez of CNN felt the teaser commemorated Boseman's performance and wrote "amid the grief that permeates the preview, there's hope, the birth of new life (literally) and a glimpse at the future, with a clawed sneak peek of a new suited hero". Writing for IndieWire, Christian Zilko also felt the teaser commemorated Boseman's performance while also opining that this presented a "daunting" challenge for Marvel Studios for Black Panther's future, due to Boseman being regarded as "one of the cornerstones of the MCU moving forward" and the studio not recasting his role. Variety Carson Burton and J. Kim Murphy felt the teaser focused on who would "take on the mantle" of Black Panther, noting the presence of a mysterious figure at the end of the trailer. The teaser trailer received 172 million views in its first 24 hours of release. Funko Pops for the film were also revealed a day after. The film was included in a sizzle reel shown ahead of screenings during National Cinema Day that highlighted upcoming films from various studios. Coogler, Wright, Duke, Bassett, and Mejía promoted the film at the 2022 D23 Expo with exclusive footage, which Aaron Couch from The Hollywood Reporter described as a "gripping sequence". An official trailer was released on October 3, 2022. EJ Panaligan at Variety and Narayan Liu of Comic Book Resources both called it an "exciting" trailer that provided a better look at the new Black Panther costume, with Liu adding it teased "a more intense storyline centered on loss, strength and the heroes" of the MCU. Devan Coggan of Entertainment Weekly said the trailer was "the best look yet at Wakanda's future" which ended with "a stunning look at the new Panther suit". Gizmodos Linda Codega found everything in the trailer from "the music, the energy, [and] the intensity" to be "incredible" and exclaimed the film appeared to be "balanc[ing] political maneuvering, spycraft, and the kind of goofiness [one would] expect out of a Marvel film". In October 2022, Marvel partnered with Target for an ad campaign featuring Thorne reprising her role as Riri Williams. The minute-long ad was directed by Malik Vitthal and shows Williams working on her Mark I Ironheart suit concurrently with a group of young Black girls creating with Lego. Williams sees one of the girls at Target, who gives her inspiration for her suit's power source. Shannon Miller at Adweek called the ad "a rare occurrence in mainstream marketing" of two young Black STEM girls interacting. The ad featured several MCU-themed Easter eggs and the song "I Got the Juice" by Janelle Monáe featuring Pharrell Williams. It debuted online on October 16, 2022, with an airing during Monday Night Football the following day; 30 and 15-second versions were also created. Marvel and Target's partnership also includes exclusive merchandise and augmented reality experiences within Target stores. Also in October, Sprite Zero Sugar launched a marketing campaign to promote the film from Wieden + Kennedy and Momentum Worldwide. Lexus ran an advertisement promoting its RZ 450e with Gurira portraying Okoye. Lexus and Adidas teamed up to design a custom Lexus LC 500 Convertible for JuJu Smith-Schuster during the world premiere. Both it and the Lexus GX feature in the film. On November 1, McDonald's began selling Wakanda Forever Happy Meals which included one of ten toys based on characters from the film. Additionally, Kraft Foods released macaroni and cheese with Wakanda Forever-inspired shapes. A six-episode podcast hosted by Ta-Nehisi Coates, titled Wakanda Forever: The Official Black Panther Podcast, features interviews with the cast and crew discussing the making of the film. The first episode premiered on November 3, 2022, and the subsequent episodes would be released weekly beginning January 2023. Three episodes of the series Marvel Studios: Legends were released on November 4, 2022, exploring T'Challa, Shuri, and the Dora Milaje using footage from their previous MCU appearances, while a 20/20 TV special entitled Black Panther: In Search of Wakanda hosted by Robin Roberts and featuring interviews with the film's cast was aired on ABC. To celebrate the launch of Adidas' "Wakanda Forever Collection", Calty Design Research, Adidas School for Experiential Education in Design and Carbon partnered to design a custom Lexus RX 500h F SPORT inspired by the film. Advertisers paid more than $100 million for the promotional campaign of Wakanda Forever according to Deadline Hollywood. == Release ==

Theatrical Black Panther: Wakanda Forever premiered at the El Capitan Theatre and the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, on October 26, 2022. It also premiered in Lagos, Nigeria on November 6, 2022, an occasion Deadline Hollywood described as the first local premiere for a Marvel film. It began releasing internationally on November 9, 2022, and in the United States on November 11. It was previously scheduled for May 6 and then for July 8, 2022. The film was released theatrically in France, despite the country's 17-month waiting period for when films can appear on streaming services after its theatrical release. Disney's decision to release Wakanda Forever in theaters was encouraged by the French government's acknowledgment that their media chronology needed to be modernized and their timeline to do so, after previously opting to skip the theatrical release of their film Strange World (2022) and release it directly to Disney+. Under the current chronology, Wakanda Forever would first become available on Disney+ in France in early 2024. The removal of a depiction of a same-sex relationship between Ayo and Aneka, along with some other edits, were made for the film to be released in Kuwait. Wakanda Forever was released in China on February 7, 2023, becoming the first MCU film to be released in the country since Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019). It is the final film of Phase Four of the MCU. Home media The film was released on Disney+ on February 1, 2023, with an IMAX Enhanced version also available. It was also released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD on February 7, 2023. The home media includes audio commentary, deleted scenes, a gag reel, and various behind-the-scenes featurettes. Upon its release on Disney+, the film became the most-watched Marvel film premiere globally on the service, based on hours streamed in its first five days. == Reception ==

Box office Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has grossed $453.8 million in the United States and Canada, and $405.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $859.2 million. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 67 out of 100, based on 62 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported audience members gave the film an overall positive score of 93%, with 85% saying that they would definitely recommend it. Kambole Campbell at Empire gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, stating that the film "stands out from a somewhat formulaic era of Marvel movies: held together by its compelling sense of place, and by acting as a passionate eulogy for Chadwick Boseman", and feeling that it was "imaginative and... grounded, which makes the tilt to the usual CG-dominated spectacle a little jarring". Campbell lauded the performances of Wright, Duke, Bassett, and Coel, and described Mejía's character as "a highlight, an imaginative adaptation of the veteran comics character, one who here speaks truth with convincing venom". Tom Jorgensen at IGN gave the film 7 out of 10, stating that it was "an effective, emotional farewell to T'Challa—a meditation on forging one's own future out of a painful past—but with a plot that has to introduce an entirely new nation and pave the way for a new wave of Marvel stories, it does struggle under the weight of all that expectation". Jorgensen lauded Bassett and Mejía's performances, but he felt that Talokan had not been "establish[ed]... quite as gracefully" and the film's third act had "push[ed] its luck too far... with a poorly conceived and logically baffling tactical choice". Owen Gleiberman of Variety wrote: "The movie doesn't have the classic comic-book pow of Black Panther, and it's easily 20 minutes too long (we could probably have lived without the Talokan backstory). Yet Wakanda Forever has a slow-burn emotional suspense. Once the film starts to gather steam, it doesn't let up". Similarly, Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune felt Wakanda Forever "is not special like the first movie was. The quality of the storytelling and especially the action sequences grows less effective as the film proceeds". Nevertheless, he singled out that "every actor on screen here is marvelous, even when the script and effects-driven spectacle settles for the wrong kind of 'more'". Peter Travers of ABC News commended the performances from Bassett, Wright and Thorne, but wrote the film's runtime "feels loooong, with dragged out battle scenes, excessive computer effects and way too much franchise building". The BBC's Nicholas Barber said that the sequel struggled due to the loss of Boseman, but commended the visual effects and Bassett, Wright, and Lupita Nyong'o's acting. David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter felt that "[e]ven if the length feels overextended, Coogler and his editors deserve credit for allowing breathing space between the action scenes for character and relationship development, with Ludwig Göransson's African-inflected score enhancing both those quieter moments and the big smackdowns. It's impossible for Wakanda Forever to match the breakthrough impact of its predecessor, but in terms of continuing the saga while paving the way for future installments, it's amply satisfying". Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post wrote: "Wakanda Forever winds up feeling hopelessly stalled, covering up an inability to move on by resorting to repetitive, over-familiar action sequences, maudlin emotional beats and an uninvolving, occasionally incoherent story". James Berardinelli of ReelViews gave the film two stars out of four, criticizing the film's runtime and worldbuilding subplots. He further wrote that the sequel is "not so much a bad movie as it is disappointing and frustrating. There are some strong moments both in terms of character development (primarily for Shuri, who has the deepest and most compelling arc) and action (the car chase is perfunctory but some of the battle scenes are well-executed), but not enough of them. There are no rousing moments designed to elicit a mass cheer from the audience". French Minister of Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu took issue with the portrayal of the French Armed Forces in the film, calling it a "false and misleading representation". A scene in the film shows French mercenaries who were captured by Wakandans after they attacked an outpost in Mali being brought before the United Nations in uniforms similar to those worn by French soldiers in Operation Barkhane. This was considered a "sensitive" storyline for France, given its soldiers withdrew from its involvement in the Mali War in 2022, and were replaced by Russia's Wagner Group. Accolades Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was nominated for five Academy Awards (winning one), a British Academy Film Award, six Critics' Choice Movie Awards (winning two), two Golden Globe Awards (winning one), and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, among others. Bassett became the first actress to win a major acting award for her role in a Marvel film. In addition, with Bassett's nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the 95th Academy Awards, Wakanda Forever became the first Marvel film to be nominated for an Academy Award in an acting category. == Documentary special ==

In February 2021, the documentary series Marvel Studios: Assembled was announced. The special on this film, "The Making of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever", was released on Disney+ on February 8, 2023. == Future ==

Ironheart In November 2022, Moore stated that the Disney+ miniseries Ironheart would serve as a direct sequel to Wakanda Forever, with Thorne reprising her role as Riri Williams. The series premiered on June 24, 2025, as part of Phase Five of the MCU. Sequel In November 2022, Coogler and Feige were revealed to have discussed a potential third Black Panther film. In January 2023, Wright believed a third film was being considered, noting that the cast and Coogler needed "a little bit of a break... to regroup" before starting work on a third film. By November 2024, Coogler had discussions with Denzel Washington about casting him for a role in a third film. The next month, Moore announced plans to exit his role at Marvel Studios in March 2025 to pursue producing outside the studio, though he would return to produce Black Panther 3 along with Marvel Studios. Coogler confirmed Washington's casting that June. Coogler confirmed in mid-November 2025 that Black Panther 3 would be his next film and development had begun. The film is expected to be released in 2028. == See also ==