The new Black panther movie, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, hit theaters on Nov. 11 and everybody’s biggest question is, “How can you have a new Black Panther movie without the Black Panther?”

The MCU did their best to answer this question in the latest Black Panther movie, and I thought it was an overall amazing film. 

The first and second Black Panther movies are both set mainly in the fictional Country of Wakanda. The Wakandans mostly keep to themselves and one of  their main goals is to gatekeep vibranium, a powerful mineral with abilities to absorb vibrations. They also hid a mystical heart-shaped herb that would give their Black Panther, their main protector, superhuman powers.

In 2020 Chadwick Boseman, the previous Black Panther actor, passed away. Therefore the MCU could not continue with his character as the Black Panther. In Wakanda Forever, the directors decided to let his little sister, Shuri, played by Letitia Wright, follow in his footsteps as a powerful leader and fighter for the Wakandan people. 

I liked this movie, for one of many reasons, because it did such a good job of incorporating the themes of family and of how even good intentions can have consequences. One way it talked about family was just the fact that all of the recent deaths including the late Boseman and another character in the movie (although they are still alive in the physical world) have brought the characters of the story closer together. It also incorporated how important it is for family to stick together even if you may disagree with them.

The directors also incorporated the theme of how even good intentions can have consequences through the plot. The main antagonist, Namor, had the intentions of protecting his people, but he did not follow up on it in the best way. Through his actions, he caused a lot of destruction, and he almost got himself killed. These were the consequences to his intentions. 

Although the plot and characters were very well done, I feel like the special effects and action scenes could have been better. Marvel is one of the top producers when it comes to the action and the effects in movies. Some of their more recent movies such as Spider-Man: No Way Home, and Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness, had some incredible overall effects and fights.

In Wakanda Forever, there were several individual fights which eventually led up to the main fight towards the end of the movie. The last fight happened when many tribes from Wakanda banded together to fight Namor’s people. It  did not have as much action as some of Marvel’s better works, and it felt more like a fill in for time. The majority of the action was between the Main Protagonist and Antagonist. Even then, this scene was somewhat gruesome and only ended in a peace agreement that the Antagonist did not plan on upholding his side of. 

Overall, this was a good movie, but it wasn’t necessarily one of Marvel’s better works. Its understandable that Marvel did have to work a bit quicker and change some things due to Chadwick Boseman passing away. In some places they were lacking important elements that could have made this movie etter. However, they made up for it in other places, such as life lessons and twists that you don’t see coming.

In the end, you don’t have to be a diehard Marvel fan to enjoy this movie.