If you thought the Phase Four backlash was over, the French government blasts ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’

Phase Four was without a doubt the most divisive stage of the Marvel Cinematic Universe yet, but with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania releasing this week, you’d have thought the discourse would have moved on. And yet, here comes the French government to trash Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in a development we definitely didn’t see coming.

After the moving funeral scene for the late Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa, the action immediately shifts to the United Nations, where Academy Award nominee Angela Bassett’s Queen Ramonda makes it perfectly clear that she doesn’t trust the rest of the world anywhere near enough to allow them access to Wakandan resources.

The Dora Milaje ultimately drag French military personnel into the room to prove a point, something that seriously stuck in the craw of Armed Forces minister Sébastien Lecornu, who blasted the MCU blockbuster.

Roughly translated, the politician states that he “strongly condemns this false and deceptive representation of our armed forces.” His particular issue comes with the uniforms the soldiers are wearing, which mirrors the genuine apparel used during Operation Barkhane, leading Lecornu to trash Wakanda Forever for what he deemed an offense to “the 58 French soldiers who died defending Mali, at its request, in the face of Islamist terrorist groups.”

You can always try and defend the Black Panther sequel by saying it’s simply a mass-marketed comic book movie designed to thrill audiences, but it’s also clear that the minister has taken some serious umbrage with the way his troops have been used to further a plot point.