Creating a fictional place where black people have never experienced oppression was the declared goal in 1966. The paths the two comic book authors Stan Lee and Jack Kirby had to take in order to at least come close to this dream in the fantasies of the Marvel books is amazing. Because where, if you please, could such a magical place be located that they called Wakanda and that would become the home of their new black superhero T’Challa aka Black Panther?
In none of the white majority societies on this planet, that was already clear. But even in Africa there is still no imaginary country imaginable that would not have been permanently damaged by colonialism and the slave trade – formally independent perhaps, but eternally oppressed and dependent on other, more powerful nations. And so suppressed on a global scale.
The only solution: Wakanda itself had to be the most powerful and technologically advanced country on earth, with inexhaustible resources of its own. And because such power cannot in principle remain undiscovered, it was only conceivable as a voluntarily isolated miniature state that had hidden its wealth from the eyes of the world for centuries – in the mountains north of Lake Turkana. How all this goes together theoretically would be an exciting analysis material for empire researchers like Yuval Noah Harari and Jared Diamond.
Take a deep breath without the taste of submission
But never mind, to really breathe freely in African air, which had never been polluted by the violence of racist white people and the bitter taste of submission, still had an irresistible appeal fifty years later. That’s when aspiring, politically minded black filmmaker Ryan Coogler took the dream of the two Jewish New York comic book fanatics and made it his own – still within the now massive Disney-owned Marvel conglomerate. The film “Black Panther” in 2018 became an instant classic and its actor Chadwick Boseman almost became a pop culture redeemer when he died unexpectedly of cancer in 2020.
Roughly speaking, that was the starting position that the highly talented Ryan Coogler now had to face in the sequel. After coining the slogan “Wakanda Forever,” which has become an identity for black communities around the world, he must continue making “Wakanda” films – presumably until the end of his career. Actually a nice duty, only made more difficult by the death of the main actor. His mythical status made the usual Marvel practice of simply putting a new man in the costume of a character who still has the same name impossible.
And actually that’s not the only problem with “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”. The first film was about Wakanda abandoning the eternal game of hide-and-seek in the African bush and revealing to the world its technological dominance, with spaceships and skyscrapers and maglev trains. But that’s how humanity came to know about Vibranium, the key element behind all the power and technology.
The invaluable raw material once landed in the Wakanda area as a result of a meteorite impact. Of course, other nations would now like to have the supplies, especially the greedy French and Americans. But you have no real chance because, see above: Wakanda is the most powerful and technologically advanced country on earth. It has to stay that way. But that would not make an exciting film.
On the other hand, the super villain of the first part, Killmonger, acted much more foresightedly in terms of sequel technology. In an act of devilish ingenuity, he destroyed all specimens of the magical, violet glowing Wakanda flower infused with the energy of Vibranium, which can bring people back from the realm of the dead and which gives the ruler chosen to be the Black Panther his invincibility. Without the miracle cure, it’s now clear why the previous Black Panther, Chadwick Boseman’s character, dies of an illness – he does offscreen at the beginning of the film, sadness remains. It’s just as clear why there can’t be a new Black Panther for the time being.
Having to prove herself without her brother: Princess Shuri (Letitia Wright) in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”
(Photo: Marvel Studios/Disney)
So now the women of Wakanda come to the fore, the royal mother of the deceased (Angela Bassett) and his nerdy, hyper-smart and very scientifically inclined sister Shuri (Letitia Wright). They are supported again by the all-female bodyguards of the royal court with their shaved warriors, played above all by Danai Gurira and the German Florence Kasumba, who comes from Uganda. Shuri tries to clone the magic flower and thus preserve the tradition, but that doesn’t work at first.
The old great powers are indisposed – but powerful beings live under water
On a trip to Boston, however, Shuri is kidnapped by mysterious merpeople and has to discover that there is a second, hidden and very powerful people on Earth who are in possession of Vibranium: the inhabitants of the underwater city of Talokan, led by the powerful Snake god K’uk’ulkan (Tenoch Huerta). It dates back to Mayan times and once fled into the sea from the terror of the Spanish conquerors in order to build up a free civilization as well. He proposes an alliance to go to war against the rest of the world – and gets very angry when Wakanda doesn’t get excited about it.
The fact that two historically cruelly oppressed ethnic groups are now being re-imagined as hidden, fabulously powerful Vibranium nations (think of nuclear powers, only much more exclusive) and have to figure things out among themselves has a certain charm – traditional great powers such as England, Russia or the USA has long since been too run down to be credibly involved here.
And then it is also very hopeful when, in their wisdom, the Wakanda women in particular recognize that one can never completely destroy an opponent – and that one should therefore already take a look at the world after the war. Creating a planet on which everyone can somehow live is the declared goal of the new world builder Ryan Coogler in 2022. It currently sounds almost as utopian as the dream of its predecessors in 1966.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, USA 2022 – Director: Ryan Coogler. Book: Coogler, John Robert Cole. Camera: Autumn Durald Arkapaw. Starring Letitia Wright, Angela Bassett, Danai Gurira, Florence Kasumba, Tenoch Huerta, and Martin Freeman. Disney/Marvel, 161 minutes. Theatrical release: November 10, 2022.