The official trailer for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is finally here!
Released on October 3rd, the promo video gives fans their most in-depth look yet at Wakanda in the wake of King T’Challa’s (Chadwick Boseman) death.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever trailer
The two-minute trailer starts with a somber tone, as it shows how T’Challa’s mother Ramonda (Angela Bassett), his sister Shuri (Letitia Wright), and the rest of Wakanda are grieving the passing of their king.
After giving fans a glimpse of how the Wakandans pay tribute to their late king one last time, the video begins to introduce Talocan, an underwater kingdom ruled over by the powerful leader Namor (Tenoch Huerta).
Created for the film, Talocan is inspired by ancient Mayan culture. While it’s an underwater kingdom, Talocan has key similarities with Wakanda. For instance, director Ryan Coogler told Entertainment Weekly that both nations are sort of “El Dorado” — an advanced civilization “hiding in plain sight.”
Later in the trailer, Wakanda is hit by a flood, which appears to be orchestrated by Namor and the Talocans. The relationship between the Wakandans and the Talocans is not clear, but in a previous interview, Huerta suggested that the Talocans are holding a grudge against the Wakandans after T’Challa publicly revealed the truth of Wakanda at the end of 2018’s Black Panther, which consequently puts Talocan in “jeopardy”.
After Boseman’s real-life death from cancer in 2022, Marvel Studios announced that it would not recast the role of T’Challa. Instead, a new character would take up the Black Panther mantle. That new character is teased at the end of the trailer. Dressed in a full Panther suit that is leaner than T’Challa’s, the new titular hero appears to be a woman.
The mask that goes with the suit features a white dot design reminiscent of the paint Shuri wore on her face during the battle scenes in the original movie. That nod to Shuri’s look and Wright’s previously confirmed larger role in the sequel suggest that T’Challa’s younger sister is the one who is taking over the role of Black Panther.
In addition to the new Black Panther, two other characters made their debuts in the trailer: Aneka (Michaela Coel) and Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), a.k.a. Ironheart. Aneka is the combat instructor of the Dora Milaje, while Riri is a young inventor who follows in the footsteps of the late Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.). After making her debut in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Thorne will star in her own Disney+ series Ironheart, set to be released in 2023.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever cast
In addition to Wright, Bassett, Huerta, Coel, and Thorne, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever also stars Lupita Nyong’o as the “war dog” spy Nakia, Winston Duke as the warrior M’Baku, Danai Gurira as Dora Milaje leader Okoye, Florence Kasumba as Ayo, and Martin Freeman as Everett K. Ross.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever release date
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever opens in U.S. theaters on November 11th.