The Marvel panel at the 2022 San Diego Comic-Con event released the official trailer for the upcoming sequel to the franchise’s blockbuster film “Black Panther.” The trailer for “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” features a mashup of a cover of the iconic Bob Marley song “No Woman No Cry” by multiple-award-winning Nigerian singer and songwriter Tems, and influential American rapper Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright.”
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” is scheduled for release on November 11, 2022, and represents the final film in Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The visuals displayed in the trailer have been described as “stunning,” but one of its most impressive elements is its emotional content related to the untimely death from cancer of Chadwick Boseman, who played King T’Challa in the original “Black Panther” film, which was based on the character created by Marvel Comics. As a result of Chadwick’s death, Marvel decided not to recast his role in the sequel, and the trailer acknowledges the loss of King T’Challa in a very emotional way.
The sequel was discussed soon after the release of the original film in 2018, with Ryan Coogler returning as director. Its plot revolves around the fight by the Kingdom of Wakanda to protect the nation from world powers who seek to intervene after the death of King T’Challa. The studio officially announced the development of the sequel in 2019. Additional main cast members from the original were confirmed by November of 2020, and production began in June. Cast members featured in the sequel include Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, Florence Kasumba, Dominique Thorne, Michaela Coel, Tenoch Huerta, Martin Freeman, and Angela Bassett.
The original “Black Panther” film released in 2018 was produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It was the 18th film in the MCU and was directed by Coogler, who co-wrote the screenplay with Joe Robert Cole. It was the first film from Marvel Studios to have a Black director and mostly Black cast. The film follows the character “T’Challa” as he is crowned king of Wakanda after the death of his father and the challenges he faces from Killmonger, who wants to abandon the nation’s isolationist policy to begin a global revolution.
The film had its premiere in Los Angeles in January of 2018 and was released in the US in February to critical acclaim. Many critics considered it to be one of the best from the MCU, and it was acknowledged for its cultural significance. It broke numerous box office records and grossed more than $1.3 billion worldwide, the highest-grossing film directed by a Black filmmaker and the ninth-highest of all time. It was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including a first for a superhero film, and won Oscars for Best Costume Design, Best Original Score, and Best Production Design.
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