What constitutes a successful Marvel film? A certified fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes? That sounds like a good start, right? How about reaching pretty close to earning $1 billion worldwide with a total gross of $859.2 million? No, OK, then what about being nominated for five – yes, five – Academy Awards, and even coming away with the gong for Best Costume Design? You’d think even ticking off one of these three would be enough to nab a free pass, but apparently even Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is a “bad” MCU movie despite all of the above being true.
A hornet’s nest was well and truly kicked over on the r/MarvelStudios subreddit when one fan not so innocently asked their peers “why don’t you like Wakanda Forever?” The question alludes to the fact that, despite everything Ryan Coogler’s sequel has going for it, the film has gone down as yet another divisive entry in the MCU’s Multiverse Saga and nowhere near as universally beloved as 2018’s Black Panther. Just a glimpse at the many negative comments, as folks honestly answered the OP’s question, suggests the root of the problem is that many feel the plot was poorly conceived.
“The only major issue,” one wrote, “is how stupid the plan was to go out into the middle of the sea to fight them.” Another criticized the pacing of the third act, describing it as “torturously [sic] sluggish, boring, and repetitive… It never ends.” Sadly, the insertion of Dominique Thorne’s Riri Williams into the narrative was also a common complaint: “I’m sorry to say it, but the biggest criticism really is Ironheart… The whole thing felt surprisingly low-stakes and leaned on that awful trope of putting lots of people in danger to protect just one person.”
Even the most positive comments merely describe Wakanda Forever as “an OK movie” or “wasn’t bad, but definitely not fantastic” which is hardly glowing. All in all, the general consensus of Black Panther 2 perhaps sums up the big problem with the MCU right now, which is that it appears near impossible to please the increasingly hard-hearted Marvel fandom. Folks often complain that the quality has gone downhill, but when a critically acclaimed, award-winning, box office smash-hit can’t be called a win, what can?
