Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is more of an ensemble film than the first was, especially with the tragic loss of Chadwick Boseman. As the film centers on paying tribute to the man’s legacy in many ways, the film takes a different approach and will see the impact on the various characters that we’ve met in the first Black Panther film, while also introducing the world to Talokan, the MCU’s interpretation of Atlantis.
Still, a lot of the promotional material only teased what we can expect from the story and how the various characters work through their own grief. In the official press conference for Wakanda Forever, director Ryan Coogler highlighted that Winston Duke‘s iconic M’Baku will likely have twice as much screentime as he did in the first film.
You know, and I will say that, you know, Winston’s not here, but M’Baku was in this movie more than he was in the first Black Panther. I think probably, like, a two-to-one ratio. You know, he probably has twice as many scenes as he had in the first one. And so he’s there, you know.
Ryan Coogler
M’Baku was a standout in the first film and even made a return in the Avengers film with Duke reprising the role. While he wasn’t close to T’Challa, he did have an important arc with him in the first film, which did open up the possibility to further explore his arc in this film. We saw in the crossover films that they’ve developed a close bond, especially showcasing how far they’ve grown since the power struggle for the throne in the first Black Panther film. So, it’ll be interesting to explore that dynamic that we may have not gotten a chance to see on the silver screen.
All eyes are on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever‘s release later this week, as it’s the final entry of Marvel Studios’ ambitious Phase 4 and rounds out the year for the studio. The studio has faced a bit of a sophomore slump but still remains a constant when it comes to its box office success. Many have wondered if Wakanda Forever would buckle under the weight of the previous entries and the loss of its main star Chadwick Boseman, but it’s currently performing very well.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the latest Black Panther film has already pulled in $45M in advance sales just in the United States with quite a few days still to go. It’ll release worldwide on Wednesday with no releases in China or Russia planned currently. At the moment the film is likely to make at least $175M with some hoping to be closer to $200M depending on word-of-mouth from the film. Even Disney CEO Bob Chapek highlighted the pre-sales in the latest earning call.
Ryan Coogler has delivered another culture-defining film … evidenced by advance ticket sales.
Bob Chapek
The film has sold more than Thor: Love and Thunder but is behind Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, which was perceived as an event film and was quite frontloaded. It may reach $60M+ by Friday which would put it past the first Black Panther which ended up earning $202M in its opening back in 2018. It went on to pull in $1.34M and it’ll be interesting to see how Wakanda Forever manages to perform in comparison once it releases in a few days.
With Deadpool 3 now deeply entrenched in the pre-production process, casting and plot leaks and rumors are sure to become more prevalent. While nobody has an idea of what to expect from the upcoming film, the idea that it’ll somehow connect the Fox X-Men-verse to the MCU is a prevalent one amongst theorists. Now, an interesting bit of casting information might make that theory a little more believable.
According to insider Daniel RPK, Owen Wilson will reprise his role as TVA Agent Mobius in Deadpool 3. It would mark the character’s first cinematic debut after being a prominent member of the Disney+ Loki series. His addition would also imply that this storyline will lead Deadpool out of his original Fox X-Men universe into the main Marvel Cinematic Universe, as his role also changed in the finale of the series.
Owen Wilson will reprise his role as Agent Mobius in ‘DEADPOOL 3’.
According to RPK, Wilson’s role is a fairly meaty one which would seem to make quite a bit of sense if Deadpool and Wolverine started any multiversal shenanigans over the course of the film. It’ll be interesting to see if this implies that the version of Wolverine we meet is even from the original universe or a new version altogether. Hopefully, whatever direction they go, he’ll get to finally wear the iconic yellow suit that he never was able to wear during his tenure as Logan in the 20th Century Fox films.
Ryan Coogler’s emotion-packed Black Panther: Wakanda Forever opens in theaters this weekend but critics, including our own Hunter Radesi, have had ample time to screen the film ahead of its wide release. With the expiration of the embargo, dozens of reviews are making their way online and onto Rotten Tomatoes and the early returns are very promising for the film.
Though it’s not quite Certified Fresh yet because there are not enough reviews, Black Panther: Wakanda Foreveropened up with an impressive 94% through the first 84 reviews. The balance between a powerfully emotional tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman and a plot that advances the story of the nation of Wakanda are among the most commonly mentioned strengths. Others who were less high on the film called into question the film’s hefty run time, its pacing and convoluted plot.
2018’s Black Panther stands as Marvel Studios’ highest-rated film to date with a Certified Fresh rating of 96% with over 529 reviews. For the sequel to be so well-received following the tragic loss of Boseman and a complete rewrite of the script is a testament to Ryan Coogler and the team behind the sequel.
Namor the Sub-Mariner is one of the few remaining marquee Marvel characters to never appear on the silver screen but now Tenoch Huerta is prepared to introduce the character in a major way as the antagonist of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Wakanda Forever afforded Ryan Coogler the ability to build another civilization into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While speaking with ScreenRant about the upcoming project, producer Nate Moore discussed this concept and how connections between Wakanda and Talokan (the Mayan-influenced version of Atlantis) play a major role in the sequel.
Because there’s such an interesting contrast between Talokan and Wakanda, that’s [what] I think drew Ryan as a storyteller to Namor in the first place. Obviously, there’s a history in publishing of Namor and Atlantis and the Black Panther and Wakanda being at loggerheads because they’re both such powerful nations that have such autonomy. But to also tell the story of colonization through the perspective of two people who’ve experienced it so differently made for a really interesting collision of ideologies.
Nate Moore
The themes of colonization and cultural identities are right within the wheelhouse of Ryan Coogler as a filmmaker. If he can keep the momentum that he brought with the original Black Panther (alongside his other directorial triumphs), then Wakanda Forever has all the earmarks to be another resonant classic. In that line of thinking, the Black Panther sequel could certainly match the quality of the first with another villain on the level of Michael B. Jordan’s Killmonger. Early reviews of the film seem to indicate he’s hit the mark with Namor. Nate Moore further elaborated on the idea of Namor being a major threat and how that plays into the infrastructure of Wakanda.
Namor’s such a powerful character. It’s hard to think of anybody who could challenge Wakanda, right? It’s the most technologically advanced nation in the world. At times, it has a Black Panther, if not the Dora Milaje. Man, who’s going to scare these guys? That is a very short list. And all of a sudden they’re faced with somebody who’s more powerful than anybody they have, and it forces them to respond in a different way than any other person would, really. Namor is such an important character that you have to commit time to get to know him. So, it’s not like you can throw him into an ensemble and say, “Also this guy.” You want to take the time to build out that world. Hopefully, we were able to achieve that with the same love and dedication to the details as we did with Wakanda in the first movie.
Nate Moore
It certainly will be interesting to follow the audience’s response to the character and see if Namor will have the longevity of other notable antagonists of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever opens exclusively in theaters on November 11, 2022.
Grief is not to be trifled with. It’s a difficult, strange beast. Necessary and uncomfortable all at once. It’s hard to encounter and put into words, which is why it’s so impressive when Ryan Coogler and the incredible cast of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever manage to embody the emotion with such grace and understanding. It’s important to face the challenges of life with honesty and progression, something Wakanda Forever accepts wholeheartedly. If superhero films are to be the voice of a generation, then they should also be willing to speak in languages sometimes foreign to the genre. They should reach to tell stories that impact their viewers and move them forward. Pain, humanity, and healing flow through every crease of this project as it unfolds, and the entertainment landscape is ultimately better for it.
One likely expected Wakanda Forever to be emotional, considering the circumstances of the past few years, and it absolutely is. Of course, the movie is rife with tears. It’s forced to deal with something nobody ever imagined it would need to. Yet, it also accomplishes something else between the moments of heartbreak and loss. It alleviates a pressure viewers might not have known was still there, and does its best to close the mourning process on a chapter most would like to have forgotten. It’s a cathartic movie in the way it allows it’s characters to react, letting their feelings guide its plot instead of the other way around. The audience feels as they do, and by the time their arcs reach a natural conclusion, the viewer might also have found some semblance of closure. Stories are beautiful because of their power to help people comprehend their own emotions, and Coogler seems to know this better than anyone. Wakanda Forever is a blockbuster film, yes, but it’s also a message about surviving and moving on.
Astonishingly, it also works as a near-perfect sequel to its predecessor. The themes of loss, identity, and perseverance are not new to the Black Panther franchise. Although stemming from a less-than-ideal state of affairs, Wakanda Forever is able to pick up almost exactly where Black Panther left off. It’s a full, complete movie, with expertly crafted storylines and character development. Every move made by Coogler makes perfect sense in the context of both Marvel’s fictional world and the real one from which it draws inspiration. Even the film’s new characters, specifically Tenoch Huerta‘s immaculately complex antagonist Namor, fit into Black Panther‘s corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as though they were designed for it from the start. Namor and his people – the Talokan – are magnificent foils for Letitia Wright‘s Shuri, Angela Bassett‘s Queen Ramonda, and the people of Wakanda. Huerta‘s performance in particular is sure to stay with fans for quite some time, molding Namor into a distinguished force in the MCU going forward.
If one were to strip the project of all its comic-based origins, it would still be a masterclass in filmmaking. It’s gorgeous from top-to-bottom, with several stunning set pieces and consistently wonderful design. Coogler has made it clear that his films mean much more than adapting stories. They exist to push the boundaries of what cinema can do. Not just visually, but at their thematic centers. Wakanda Forever has raised the bar for what Marvel Studios, and the industry at large, should be capable of producing when the occasion calls for it. Seeing this one on the biggest screen possible is highly recommended. Sobbing throughout is not required, but it will probably happen anyway.
From the moment Disney’s merger with Fox Studios was complete, fans began theorizing about how one of Marvel Comics’ most powerful mutants, Storm, might fit into the story of the Black Panther sequel. Once the wife of T’Challa and the Queen of Wakanda, Storm’s connection to Wakanda remains strong in the present day despite no longer being married to T’Challa. While her duties to the X-Men had her busy on Mars, Ororo still found herself playing a role in current Black Panther writer John Ridley’s series. Even though T’Challa’s relationship with Nakia was clearly prioritized in Black Panther, fans were still adamant that Storm could find her way into the sequel and even as the film was reworked following the death of Chadwick Boseman, the Storm theories never stopped coming.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever opens this week and, to nobody’s actual surprise, Storm is not in the film. However, with at least one more Wakanda-based streaming series on the way and a third film in the series all but a sure thing, fans are still looking to the future for hope that the character might show up in Wakanda, reflecting the strong connection she has to the nation in the pages of Marvel Comics. In an interview with Screen Rant, Marvel Studios Parliament member and Wakanda Forever Executive Producer Nate Moore may have dashed those hopes. When asked about the chances of Storm showing up in Wakanda down the road, Moore certainly didn’t seem optimistic saying, “Well, Storm’s relationship with Wakanda in publishing is pretty interesting. Obviously, we might be a few years out from the X-Men, so I’m not sure we’re there yet.“
The quote certainly doesn’t inspire confidence that Ororo will find her way to Wakanda any time soon, though it doesn’t completely rule it out of the question. While there are plenty of ways that Storm could be worked into Black Panther 3, the unfortunate reality is that the strength of the character’s connection to Wakanda came from her relationship with T’Challa and that’s sadly not something that the MCU can replicate at the moment. Perhaps down the road after Avengers: Secret Wars, new possibilities for the pair to unite on screen might emerge but until then, it sounds like Storm may not be part of the plans to continue to story of Wakanda.
After taking some time to get the pieces in place for it, Deadpool 3 now seems to be making steady progress. Hugh Jackman agreed to return to the role of Wolverine, which he believed he’d left behind with 2017’s Logan, and the film was finally put on the Marvel Studios slate with a release date of November 8, 2024. Obviously, that means production on the film must be getting underway at some point in 2023 and in a recent interview, star Ryan Reynolds gave a little clarity to when that should be.
In an interview with Sirius XM’s Stars, Reynolds explained that he, Jackman and director Shawn Levy are “up to our necks in prep” and that the film is still being written, and that he will be wrapped up in production on it for the next two years. The actor then added that shooting on the film, which he called “the easy part”, is expected to take place “just before Summer.”
Ryan Reynolds on ‘DEADPOOL 3’ and confirms that production is set to begin before Summer 2023.
Sam Raimi‘s unmade Spider-Man 4 has long been a giant question mark to fans, but some exciting new details are finally becoming public. It’s been known for a long time that Hollywood legend John Malkovich would have portrayed Adrian Toomes, a.k.a. The Vulture, in the film, had it come to fruition, but his character’s actual role in the plot has always been shrouded in mystery. Luckily for those who want more information, an upcoming book centered on Spider-Man, Sean O’Connell‘s With Great Power, has shed a little bit of light on the matter.
According to the novel, Raimi‘s Vulture would have been a modernized version of the villain, who utilized razor-sharp blades on his wings as a primary form of weaponry. He also would have been quite the vicious adversary for Tobey Maguire‘s hero, with a featured scene specifically designed to be on par with Alfred Molina‘s infamously terrifying hospital sequence in Spider-Man 2. Instead of a grotesque transformation, however, the scene in question would have seen Vulture lurking over a library, picking off goons sent to take him down. Storyboard artist Jeffrey Henderson confirmed this was an example of how the antagonist would have received his nickname, explaining it as part of the character’s planned origin in the movie:
He was essentially a guy that did as a lot of ugly stuff for the government, did a lot of ugly stuff as a private contractor… I thought a clever thing to do would be to say that part of the reason they called him The Vulture was because when he was done, he didn’t leave anything but bones behind.
Jeffrey Henderson
Furthermore, With Great Power reveals exactly how Vulture would have perished in Spider-Man 4. The plan was for Spider-Man and his winged foe to have a climactic battle that began in the New York City subway system and ended atop the Citicorp Center on Lexington Avenue in Manhattan, with Vulture gaining the upper hand before things go sideways. Henderson explains:
They were going to have a big brawl-for-it-all, where Vulture almost kills Spider-Man. And then Spider-Man at the last minute—he’s really wounded, he’s bleeding really badly, he’s in real trouble—Peter finally, almost as a reaction, forces The Vulture off. When he does, it snaps some of the stuff from the wings, so he ends up just tumbling into the ether, off the top of the Citicorp building. That’s what does him in.
Jeffrey Henderson
The book goes on to explain that, after Toomes’ death, his daughter would have stepped in as the main villain for the movie’s third act. It sounds like this version of the Vulture would have been wildly different than the one Michael Keaton eventually brought to life in Spider-Man: Homecoming, even if the later adaptation is still adored by fans.
The ensemble of the animated Spider-Verse is expanding even more for the upcoming sequel. It has officially been announced that Academy Award-winning actor Daniel Kaluuya will be playing Spider-Punk in 2023’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. While many of the characters in the film are Peter Parker Variants, the Spider-Punk mantle is a Variant of a character named Hobie Brown. He joins an already stacked voice cast including Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Oscar Isaac, Jake Johnson, Issa Rae, and Jason Schwartzman among others. The film is being directed by the trio of Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson.
Not much is known about what the sequel will entail, but it is confirmed that it will follow Miles Morales (Moore) on a new multiverse-traversing mission with a new team of Spider-people. These include reuniting with Spider-Gwen (Steinfeld) and Peter B. Parker (Johnson) while meeting the likes of Jessica Drew’s Spider-Woman (Rae), Spider-Man 2099 (Isaac), and now Daniel Kaluuya’s Spider-Punk. It has also been confirmed that Spot, played by Jason Schwartzman, will be the main antagonist of the project.
Hobie Brown/Spider-Punk, a homeless teenager who fights to represent the oppressed citizens of New York City in his universe, was created by writer Dan Slott in 2014. Having an actor with the stature of Daniel Kaluuya voicing the role seems to indicate a major role for Spider-Punk in this upcoming sequel. Kaluuya is best known for his Academy Award-winning performance in Judas and the Black Messiah alongside his lead roles in both of Jordan Peele’s Get Out and Nope.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is scheduled to release theatrically on June 2, 2023.
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