By Gary

The eagerly awaited sequel to Black Panther has been revealed and answered the question of how they would move forward without the late Chadwick Boseman.

Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Shuri (Letitia Wright), M’Baku (Winston Duke), Okoye (Danai Gurira) and the Dora Milaje fight to protect the kingdom of Wakanda from intervening world powers in the wake of King T’Challa’s (Chadwick Boseman) death.

As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with the help of War Dog Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) and Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) and forge a new path for their nation.

With Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Disney and Marvel pay an appropriately sombre tribute to its recently deceased lead actor (Chadwick Boseman) by showing how things can still move forward in the wake of his absence.

This was one of the big questions they had to answer after they had ruled out recasting T’Challa.

I thought Letitia Wright as Shuri was the real stand out star in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever she delivers a powerful performance as she is grieving at the loss of her brother.

The plot for this film see a new superpower emerges from the ocean.

Namor, considered to be Marvel’s first mutant, with winged ankles that enable him to fly, in addition to superhuman strength and endurance and the abilities to breathe underwater and swim at superhuman speed.

They have changed the origin of the character from the Comics, he is from Atlantis in the Comics but here he is from Talokan an ancient Mayan civilization.

Namor’s status as an antihero makes him the perfect candidate to play the “villain” role in, following in the footsteps of Killmonger (Michael B Jordan) and is positioned to be much more than the one-dimensional bad guy.

Namor’s origins will be presented in a new light as he becomes Ku’ku’lkán, the Feathered Serpent God.

Mexican actor Tenoch Huerta Mejía steps into the role in his Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) debut, an honour and responsibility that he isn’t taking lightly.

“Talokan has a deep meaning to me,” Huerta Mejía explained in the recent promotion for the film.

“It’s part of my personal heritage, as a Mexican, as an inhabitant of Mesoamerica. Finally, I could find a more powerful representation of my culture, with dignity and respect.”

This is the 30th Marvel movie released in the MCU and it is my favourite film they have released in Phase 4, best til last, maybe joint with Spiderman: No Way Home.

Every movie in Phase 4 feels more stand-alone and not as linked together as the previous phases, but looking back it felt that way with Iron Man, Captain America and Thor.

It wasn’t until the Avengers film it all started coming together.

My Rating: 9/10