Today’s Marvel news roundup is something of a Black Panther: Wakanda Forever special, for obvious reasons. Yes, after such a long wait, the sequel to 2018’s Oscar-nomination spectacular is at last in theaters, meaning we can finally tell if it’s going to singlehandedly redeem Phase Four as we’ve all been hoping. Don’t worry, you won’t be finding any spoilers for the movie here, as we’ll instead be unpacking the civil war that’s erupting between the fans and critics on Rotten Tomatoes and revealing what Chadwick Boseman was most excited for about the film.
Fans think Black Panther 2 is one of the best, but RT critics are nowhere near as generous
Black Panther 2‘s debut RT score was up there in the 90s, but naturally that has now dropped down a tad. At the time of its release, Wakanda Forever is still Certified Fresh at 85%, however that means it’s only the 15th highest-rated Marvel film on the review-aggregate site. On the other hand, users could not be loving it more, with its 94% audience score making it the fourth most popular MCU movie on RT. And that’s not even starting on how it’s faring over on Metacritic.
Chadwick Boseman was so excited about this one element of Wakanda Forever
The greatest shadow hanging over Wakanda Forever is naturally the loss of the much-missed Chadwick Boseman, especially as it turns out the late star was so excited for the plans for the sequel. Director Ryan Coogler has revealed that Boseman loved Coogler’s concept for reimagining Namor and his underwater kingdom as inspired by Indigenous American culture and was convinced Marvel fans would adore it. As it turns out, the wise actor was spot on about that.
Namor isn’t the first OG Marvel character to appear in the MCU
Fun fact: Namor is one of the two oldest characters in the Marvel universe, having debuted back in Oct. 1939’s Marvel Comics #1. His arrival in Wakanda Forever is a historic moment for the MCU, then, but he’s actually not the first of Marvel’s OG heroes to make it into the franchise. That would be the original Human Torch, Jim Hammond, who previously made a brief cameo way back in a certain Phase One movie that everyone seems to have forgotten about.
Here’s how Black Panther 2 feeds directly into Ironheart
In addition to Namor, Black Panther 2 similarly introduces another new key player into the mix. Namely, Dominique Thorne’s Riri Williams, who’ll soon be starring in her very own Ironheart Disney Plus TV series. For those curious how Riri’s experience in Wakanda will inform her arc in the spinoff, producer Nate Moore has teased that what the teen prodigy goes through in the movie irrevocably changes her and sets her on the path she’ll go down in the upcoming show. We can’t wait to see it come fall 2023.
Slide back here on Saturday, Wakanda Forever ticket-holders, for more of the latest Marvel news.
