Black Panther 2 is in cinemas now, and it provides an emotional return to Wakanda.
The film, titled Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, is a follow-up to the 2018 blockbuster, which starred Chadwick Boseman in the lead role.
Boseman died in August 2020, and Letitia Wright has stepped into the lead role as Shuri alongside Angela Bassett, who plays her mother, Ramonda.
The film is earning praise from Marvel fans, who have been left “sobbing” in the cinema due to the film’s references to Boseman’s character.
Unlike other Marvel films, Wakanda Forever does not spend too much time setting up future projects, and instead brings the studio’s Phase Four to a moving close on its own merits.
However, that isn’t to say there aren’t references to other Marvel characters: two blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Easter eggs are actually present in two separate news bulletin scenes featuring a cameo from American broadcaster Anderson Cooper.
The rolling news updates at the bottom of the screen namechecks Ant-Man/Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), and the memoir he is releasing, which will most probably be featured in the forthcoming Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
In the second scene, a treaty at New Asgard is mentioned – this location, of course, being the new home for Thor’s fellow Asgardians, who are led by Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson).
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is in cinemas now.
Find The Independent’s four-star verdict on the film here, and a breakdown of the film’s post-credit scene here.
The film also stars Danai Gurira and Lupita Nyong’o – but not Daniel Kaluuya, whose absence has been explained by Coogler.
