The MCU Wasn't Built for This
New York magazine|November 21 - December 4, 2022
Grief and colonization can’t be dealt with like just another supervillain.
ANGELICA JADE BASTIÉN
The MCU Wasn't Built for This

BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER carries a series of burdens no one film should ever bear. Its director, Ryan Coogler, must grapple with the challenges and expectations born of and influenced by the tragic loss of star Chadwick Boseman while crafting an entertaining sequel to a billion-dollar blockbuster in the constricting Marvel Cinematic Universe. He must balance the expectations of Black folks who have elevated the movie to celestial status-a pinnacle of Afrofuturistic desires for a specific kind of Black power and representation onscreen. The film is called to respectfully introduce a new Black Panther and push the MCU forward with the introduction of Namor (Tenoch Huerta), an Indigenous Mesoamerican god-king of the isolationist undersea kingdom Talokan-which has its own cache of vibranium and a superhuman strength that makes Wakanda buckle. Perhaps most crucially, the cast must act out their grief while mired in the emotion themselves; this is especially true for Letitia Wright's Shuri, who is tasked with shouldering the film's most dramatic moments.

To say the sequel is overtaxed is an understatement. Regrettably, Wakanda Forever tries to do so many things that it comes across as threadbare and pallid—a failure less of imagination and more of circumstance, time, and narrative limitations.

This story is from the November 21 - December 4, 2022 edition of New York magazine.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the November 21 - December 4, 2022 edition of New York magazine.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM NEW YORK MAGAZINEView All
Enchanting and Exhausting
New York magazine

Enchanting and Exhausting

Wicked makes a charming but bloated film.

time-read
5 mins  |
Dec 2-15, 2024
Nicole Kidman Lets Loose
New York magazine

Nicole Kidman Lets Loose

She's having a grand old time playing wealthy matriarchs on the verge of blowing their lives up.

time-read
6 mins  |
Dec 2-15, 2024
How Mike Myers Makes His Own Reality
New York magazine

How Mike Myers Makes His Own Reality

Directing him in Austin Powers taught me what it means to be really, truly funny.

time-read
4 mins  |
Dec 2-15, 2024
The Art of Surrender
New York magazine

The Art of Surrender

Four decades into his career, Willem Dafoe is more curious about his craft than ever.

time-read
10 mins  |
Dec 2-15, 2024
The Big Macher Restaurant Is Back
New York magazine

The Big Macher Restaurant Is Back

ON A WARM NIGHT in October, a red carpet ran down a length of East 26th Street.

time-read
2 mins  |
Dec 2-15, 2024
Showing Its Age
New York magazine

Showing Its Age

Borgo displays a confidence that can he only from experience.

time-read
3 mins  |
Dec 2-15, 2024
Keeping It Simple on Lower Fifth
New York magazine

Keeping It Simple on Lower Fifth

Jack Ceglic and Manuel Fernandez-Casteleiro's apartment is full of stories but not distractions.

time-read
3 mins  |
Dec 2-15, 2024
REASON TO LOVE NEW YORK
New York magazine

REASON TO LOVE NEW YORK

THERE'S NOT MUCH in New York that has staying power. Every other day, a new scandal outscandals whatever we were just scandalized by; every few years, a hotter, scarier downtown set emerges; the yoga studio up the block from your apartment that used to be a coffee shop has now become a hybrid drug front and yarn store.

time-read
4 mins  |
Dec 2-15, 2024
Disunion: Ingrid Rojas Contreras
New York magazine

Disunion: Ingrid Rojas Contreras

A Rift in the Family My in-laws gave me a book by a eugenicist. Our relationship is over.

time-read
5 mins  |
Dec 2-15, 2024
Gwen Whiting
New York magazine

Gwen Whiting

Two years after a mass recall and a bacterial outbreak, the founder of the Laundress is on cleanup duty.

time-read
6 mins  |
Dec 2-15, 2024