Story

The King of Wakanda, T’Challa, has died and Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett) has ascended to power.

Wakanda is the only known source of the highly prized mineral ‘vibranium’, which is used in weapons of mass destruction. As such, Wakanda is the most powerful nation on Earth. Members of the United Nations try to persuade the Queen to share the precious mineral, but she refuses. This makes Wakanda an enemy of other powerful nations like the United States.

A new threat comes from an underwater colony, Talokan, and its leader, Namor (Tamech Huerta). The Talokanil are mutant descendants of the Yucatan Peninsula Mexicans. They live and breathe underwater and also have access to vibranium. Namor is the only Talokanil who can breathe above water, and he also has winged feet and other superpowers. Namor intends to rule the world with his powers and wants Wakanda to join him. But Queen Ramonda has no intention of joining in a war against the ‘surface people’.

Princess Shuri (Letitia Wright), the King’s sister, is highly intelligent and uses her advanced knowledge of technology to develop weapons to defend Wakanda. Together with the head of the Army, Okoya (Danai Gurira), they travel to the United States to find a scientist who has created a machine that detects vibranium. The scientist, however, turns out to be a 19-year-old university student, Riri (Dominique Thorne), who is wanted by Namor.

As the threats to Wakanda grow, the need for a new ‘Black Panther’ becomes pressing. It’s now up to Shuri to take on the role previously held by her beloved older brother and defend her nation of Wakanda.

Themes

War; fantasy violence; superheroes

Violence

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has a lot of stylised violence. There’s fighting and battles with swords, automatic rifles and other weapons. Characters are thrown around, and there are plane and vehicle crashes. But there’s no blood and gore. For example:

• Soldiers armed with automatic weapons break into a Wakandan outreach centre and threaten the occupants. The Wakandans fight back with spears, knives and tasers.
• Car chases result in car crashes. Cars and a motor bike are thrown up into the air and crash loudly.
• A major character is wounded in battle and is shown lying down, bleeding. She later dies.
• Wakanda is invaded by the Talokanil. Water breaks through the city walls, and fighting breaks out between the Wakandans and the Talokanil. Namor sends a warrior flying into the water and splits a plane in half. Namor uses vibranium in the attack.
• A US warship is attacked by the Talokanil and capsizes.
• Namor spears Shuri as the Black Panther. Shuri pushes her body through the spear to escape from it.

Sexual references

There are no sexual references in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever shows some use of substances. For example, potions are used twice.

Nudity and sexual activity

There’s no nudity and sexual activity in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Product placement

The following products are shown in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever: Marvel characters.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Ideas to discuss with your children

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is a sequel to Marvel’s 2018 Black Panther movie. In 3D, it’s visually stunning with diverse landscapes and characters. But at 161 minutes, the movie is drawn out and overly long, and the plot is rather clichéd and trite. Nevertheless, it’s likely to appeal to teenagers and Marvel fans.

Because of its violence and scary scenes, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever isn’t suitable for children under 12 years, and we recommend parental guidance for children aged 12-14 years.

These are the main messages from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever:

• Don’t let vengeance consume you.
• If you have power, use it wisely.

Values in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever that you could reinforce with your children include female strength, mercy, compassion, loyalty, teamwork, courage and bravery.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever could also give you the chance to talk with your children about real-life issues like these:

• The glamorisation of violence – why is this a popular theme in teenage movies in particular?
• Grief and loss and their effects on people – what are your family’s attitudes towards death and dying?