Today the first trailer for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was released and, I can’t lie, I got emotional.
Leading with Afrobeats singer Tems’ singing Bob Marley’s No Woman No Cry interspersed with Kendrick Lemar’s Alright, it felt like we were already being hit by the messages. We are heartbroken. We feel the loss. But we’re ready to heal and we’re going to be ok.
The teaser also leads with the women of Wakanda: Nakia, Suri, Ramonda, Okoye which instantly made me wonder if the tragic loss of Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa had ushered in a new groundbreaking wave: a Black female-led Marvel movie?
As a Black woman and as someone who has always championed Black women, this hit me in the chest. I’ve been feeling the absence of Black British women in certain spaces so to see this really filled my spirit. We’re given no real clue as to which woman – if any, one or multiple – has been given the mantel.
It’s also a real chance for the global Black community to truly mourn Chadwick Boseman, something that we did online but never in person. From the trailer, it seems like a point director Ryan Cooglar has thought about.
Early on we see a ceremony where the Wakandan community is wearing all white including T’Challa’s sister Suri played by returning actress Letitia Wright. Honestly, I’m starting to prepare for the emotion which is bound to occur. Black Panther was such a unifying movement that transcended geographies and this will be no different.
In anticipation I’ll be closing my office for the day. As a client and loved one said it’s not a day to expect any Black person to be of any use to you.
I can imagine the pressure for Ryan Cooglermust be immense. To connect with an audience again especially when the first iteration was so deeply loved is a challenge. However, if the trailer is anything to go by? There is absolutely nothing to worry about.
