SPOILERS AHEAD – I’m going to start incorporating discussions of the connectivity requirements into these reviews, because I feel context is important to most movies and having to connect a single movie to a bigger plot line needs to be taken into consideration.
As most people are aware, Chadwick Boseman (T’Challa) was alive when writer/director Ryan Coogler finished the first draft. With Boseman’s tragic passing, Coogler had the daunting task of choosing between recasting his lead character or writing him out of the story. Many fans were split on how to approach it, and there were several advantages in choosing to recast: no need to drastically rewrite the script, no big adjustments to the general production schedule.
Coogler went with the more difficult option, and here’s where I want to get into the context of the story within the bigger MCU continuity.
What needed to happen in this movie?
- The introduction of Namor
- Establishing the relationship of Namor’s kingdom to Wakanda
- The introduction of Riri Williams (Ironheart)
- The consequences of losing T’Challa politically
The third act ends with a confrontation of the Black Panther and Namor. This would have happened regardless of who was in the role of Black Panther at that point in the movie. In this case it is Shuri, putting aside her anger and need for revenge, sparing Namor and establishing a partnership between the two nations.
Shuri (Letitia Wright) is the movie’s protagonist, and Namor (Tenoch Huerta) is the antagonist. Both are solid in their roles, and the story follows the classic structure where both have character development arcs that intertwine. The gender difference between the two monarchs actually works in the movie’s favor, in my opinion.
Continuing to move backwards, the McGuffin is Riri Williams, whom Namor blames for her invention of a device that leads to exposes his kingdom to exploitation by the evil “surface dwellers.” Wakandan agents get to Riri first to give her protection. Namor leads a raid on Wakanda resulting in the death of Queen Ramonda, setting up the third-act battle.
The movie opens with the off-screen death of T’Challa and a very moving funeral sequence. The movie ends with T’Challa’s love interest Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) revealing to Shuri she is the mother of T’Challa’s secret son, also named T’Challa.
Who is the ruler of Wakanda now?
It is inferred the eldest male of the royal lineage is both the king of Wakanda and the Black Panther, its protector. Any member of Wakanda has the right to challenge for the throne in a trial by combat. At the end of the movie, M’Baku (Winston Duke) appears at the combat site, suggesting he and Shuri came to an understanding the rule of Wakanda would be separated from the role of the Black Panther. M’Baku states his challenge for the throne of Wakanda by ceremonial combat, and the scene cuts away to Namor explaining to his sister that he got what he wanted from the battle with Wakanda: a powerful ally.
While the movie is not perfect by any means (it feels long at two hours and 41 minutes in length), it gets done what it needs to while delivering some very solid action sequences. If a third Black Panther movie is made (it probably will be), there is time now to think through where to go from here, and if the Disney+ series does move forward, how those two work together timeline-wise.
