Black Panther: Wakanda Forever General Discussion and Speculation Thread

[milesmvspeterp]

Shuri was amazing as BP. Can't wait to see her again.

 

[KevTravels]

That and based on some interviews with Ryan Coogler, he seems like he needs to take a break before working on another movie. And I imagine Feige is willing to give him that time.

I'd love to see him finally do that "Wrong Answer" film he was supposedly going to do with Michael B. Jordan like six/seven years ago. It'd be nice for him to go do another indie.

 

[KevTravels]

2026 or 2027. DS3, E2 and SC2 should come out first.

I don't know about Eternals. I don't even think it broke even.

 

[psylockolussus]

I don't know about Eternals. I don't even think it broke even.

It wasn't boX office bomb given the circumstances.

 

[KevTravels]

It wasn't boX office bomb given the circumstances.

$400 million on a $200 million dollar budget...
then again it wasn't released in China which would have certainly given it a hundred million or so. We may see a sequel but at the same time I gotta figure they'd try and pad it to ensure it gets a more favorable reaction from audiences.

Damn, I just checked and saw Shang Chi grossed $430 million. I thought it did far better than that.

 

[Elayis]

$400 million on a $200 million dollar budget...
then again it wasn't released in China which would have certainly given it a hundred million or so. We may see a sequel but at the same time I gotta figure they'd try and pad it to ensure it gets a more favorable reaction from audiences.

Damn, I just checked and saw Shang Chi grossed $430 million. I thought it did far better than that.

Nope, everyone was grading box office on a curve last year.

 

[psylockolussus]

$400 million on a $200 million dollar budget...
then again it wasn't released in China which would have certainly given it a hundred million or so. We may see a sequel but at the same time I gotta figure they'd try and pad it to ensure it gets a more favorable reaction from audiences.

Damn, I just checked and saw Shang Chi grossed $430 million. I thought it did far better than that.

Again theaters were just reopening last year and who knows how many people chose not to watch it in a cinema to prevent catching Covid.

Eternals is a hit. I don't know why you eXpected those to gross a billion...

 

[Melpardus]

Saw the movie last week; honestly, given the circumstances it was made under, I really liked it. A few spare points from my initial reaction based on comments I made in a group chat. No heavy spoilers, but I'll mark them just in case.

Overall, a lot of this felt like Coogler looked at the script for the first movie, heard black folks' complaints about how the story ended (or just had a lot of this mapped out in the first place and audiences just aren't patient for sequels), and went "Yeah, you right". I'm mostly referring to the "Kumbaya"-esque ending where T'Challa gives that little "We are the world" speech to the UN and builds a rec center in the 'hood. Not that it's bad, just as a standalone story it doesn't come across as thematically in-line with everything else. I don't know how different the script was for this sequel when he originally wrote it, but I very much wonder how much of the

Spoiler

Wakanda vs the (Western) world angle Coogler would've leaned into if he still had Boseman.

Regardless, I think it was the perfect route to go and I think they actually pushed it further than I thought they would, so pleasantly surprised there.

Shuri goes through a hell of an arc and while I really thought it would've been interesting to have Nakia take over as Black Panther (I still think it would be just as good a character journey going from a spy abroad and people at home questioning her allegiances to Wakanda to the country's head protector) this worked well with me. I particularly liked the subtle angle of faith and grief, and how the movie acknowledges and respects the audience enough to not have Shuri come to some sort of religious/spiritual revelation in taking on the mantle and overcoming her grief (which would've been the easy way out given that the MCU is a world where literal gods exist and they had her spouting lines like she was an atheist in every Christian propaganda movie). Would've been a bit more satisfying if there were at least some active hints that this version of Shuri knew how to fight (in hand-to-hand combat specifically; I know we've seen her hold her own on the battlefield before) before we see her suit up, but from an emotional standpoint, she earned it. My instinct is to doubt that we'll really see her in-suit again for a while though; that just doesn't feel like the kind of trajectory for her at this point.

K'uk'ulkan/Namor was great. I wouldn't go as far as to say Killmonger 2.0, but he definitely felt like more of a threat and had a more solid overall argument. I've voiced my concern/curiosity as to how an isolationist landlocked country would end up in conflict with a fishman, but hey, they found a way to make me buy it. My only real qualm with him was that I wish his exposition part didn't feel as clunky as it was, but the origin story itself was fine.

Definitely want to see it again just to catch more subtle details and nuances like the score and such before I "officially" rate it in my head, but I'm thinking it's a solid 7.5/10 right now (whereas the first movie sits at an 8 for me). There's definitely aspects that I like more or think it did better than the first film, but this is also a very different movie so it feels like an apples to oranges comparison. Both are good fruits.

 

[KevTravels]

Again theaters were just reopening last year and who knows how many people chose not to watch it in a cinema to prevent catching Covid.

Eternals is a hit. I don't know why you eXpected those to gross a billion...

It was not a HIT. Of course there was Covid and lack of China but you'd make more sense it broke even than saying it was a HIT.

 

[psylockolussus]

It was not a HIT. Of course there was Covid and lack of China but you'd make more sense it broke even than saying it was a HIT.

It was a hit considering the circumstances. It was still the 6th highest grossing film of 2021 in North America...

 

[The Caped Knight]

Atlantis Vs Talokan: What’s The Better Underwater Civilization?

Imo Atlantis easily wins it had more of a wonderful display of color and vibrance similar to when we first saw Wakanda for the first time.


I felt Talokan was more old destroyed temple ruins from ancient Aztec myth lost in the sea of time. In other words scraps. I wasn’t impressed.

 

[OroroGambitFan]

$400 million on a $200 million dollar budget...
then again it wasn't released in China which would have certainly given it a hundred million or so. We may see a sequel but at the same time I gotta figure they'd try and pad it to ensure it gets a more favorable reaction from audiences.

Damn, I just checked and saw Shang Chi grossed $430 million. I thought it did far better than that.

Ur forgetting we were knee deep in pandemic mode (and yes I know how much $ NWH made). To illustrate my point Eternals was the 10th highest grossing movie Worldwide of last year. Of all the moviegoers that ventured out, only 9 movies made more. Eternals made more money than Dune did and Dune had a China opening and of course that movie is getting a sequel so why not Eternals?

 

[Mjolnir Reborn]

Ur forgetting we were knee deep in pandemic mode (and yes I know how much $ NWH made). To illustrate my point Eternals was the 10th highest grossing movie Worldwide of last year. Of all the moviegoers that ventured out, only 9 movies made more. Eternals made more money than Dune did and Dune had a China opening and of course that movie is getting a sequel so why not Eternals?

The difference between Dune and Eternals doesn't stop at the China release though. Dune was released simultaneously on HBO Max which is a significantly bigger drawback than China is a bonus. Had Dune gotten a normal release and still only pulled in the same numbers the sequel might very well not have happened, despite that Dune is quite unknown compared to Marvel. The HBO Max part likely gave it a lot of leeway in terms of BO results.

That being said there can certainly be another Eternals film. If that's in Marvel's plans they are more likely to just make changes to try to fix the causes of the mixed reception than they are to flat out cancel it and just forget about the Celestial thing.

 

[OroroGambitFan]

The difference between Dune and Eternals doesn't stop at the China release though. Dune was released simultaneously on HBO Max which is a significantly bigger drawback than China is a bonus. Had Dune gotten a normal release and still only pulled in the same numbers the sequel might very well not have happened, despite that Dune is quite unknown compared to Marvel. The HBO Max part likely gave it a lot of leeway in terms of BO results.

That being said there can certainly be another Eternals film. If that's in Marvel's plans they are more likely to just make changes to try to fix the causes of the mixed reception than they are to flat out cancel it and just forget about the Celestial thing.

I'm not sure I fully agree. Not everyone in the US has HBOMAX so for all those folks it was still released in theaters-- and some of those who do HBOMAX still might prefer the theater experience for a movie like that. China "can" be bigger business for movies than the US-- ask Venom and the Fast & Furious later franchisees. One was handicapped by zero play on in the second larger market and the other played all over the world, but did have a simultaneous release in the largest market. I guess we'll never really know it's all speculation and conjecture. My only point in comparing them was one is looked at as a hit and the other a flop and the flop grossed more money...

 

[Spider-Fan83]

sorry if this is old... but only just came cross it

when an A.I. Generator was asked to depicted Black Panther

 

[BoredGuy]

Yikes, that's bizarre

 

[Elayis]

sorry if this is old... but only just came cross it

when an A.I. Generator was asked to depicted Black Panther View attachment 60414

You forgot the context (which is important).

 

[GothamCity]

The soundtrack is great, have yet to see the film.

 

[Evil Twin]

I'm not sure I fully agree. Not everyone in the US has HBOMAX so for all those folks it was still released in theaters-- and some of those who do HBOMAX still might prefer the theater experience for a movie like that. China "can" be bigger business for movies than the US-- ask Venom and the Fast & Furious later franchisees. One was handicapped by zero play on in the second larger market and the other played all over the world, but did have a simultaneous release in the largest market. I guess we'll never really know it's all speculation and conjecture. My only point in comparing them was one is looked at as a hit and the other a flop and the flop grossed more money...

Everyone in the world with internet can pirate a rip from HBO Max.

OTOH, Marvel is certainly better known than Dune, but Dune is certainly better known than Eternals. The books have been popular for decades. Eternals arguably has never been popular.

 

[Holy Slapper]

 

[Sean Holmes]

I liked watching MCU's Wakanda Forever, but I wish the comic book version of Namor's feet wings was upgraded to fins or gills for this movie. Also, why was Black Panther Two devoid of any themes associate with climate change?

 

[Holy Slapper]

I liked watching MCU's Wakanda Forever, but I wish the comic book version of Namor's feet wings was upgraded to fins or gills for this movie. Also, why was Black Panther Two devoid of any themes associate with climate change?

Their planet just went 5 years without half it's population, climate change probably got halted quite a bit.

 

[Venom 1988]

I liked watching MCU's Wakanda Forever, but I wish the comic book version of Namor's feet wings was upgraded to fins or gills for this movie.

Why? The whole point of the wings is to show his mutation and how he's different than all the other Atlanteans.

 

[Albright]

Japanese Disney Plus has it for January (no date but tbd.). I used a translation App.

My money is on 11th of January (same release window like Eternals).
I bet we learn tomorrow, when they release the „coming in January…“-spot

 

[The Caped Knight]

February 1st Black Panther: Wakanda Forever debuts on Disney+