[More than all the various super beings out there, its the ongoing
forces of colonialist exploitation and violence that inform the
conflict at the heart of this most recent story.]
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PORTSIDE CULTURE

ONCE AGAIN, COLONIALISM IS THE REAL ENEMY IN ‘BLACK PANTHER:
WAKANDA FOREVER’  
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Chase Hutchinson
November 13, 2022
Collider
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_ More than all the various super beings out there, it's the ongoing
forces of colonialist exploitation and violence that inform the
conflict at the heart of this most recent story. _

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In the world of writer-director RYAN COOGLER
[[link removed]]’s _BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA
FOREVER_ [[link removed]], as well as
the MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE more broadly, there are plenty of
enemies threatening these characters. There are those like the
menancing Thanos that are able to snap millions out of existence or
the evil Ego who consumes entire planets. However, the greatest threat
facing the world of Wakanda we already knew from films prior and the
newly introduced undersea kingdom Talokan
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a force that is historical in its origins though painfully present in
its impacts. More than all the various super beings out there, it's
the ongoing forces of colonialist exploitation and violence that
inform the conflict at the heart of this most recent story.

Ryan Coogler Explored Colonialism in 'Black Panther'

This is nothing new for Coogler as the first film, _BLACK PANTHER_,
was explicitly about how Wakanda itself had managed to remain
unscathed from the brutality around them by keeping hidden. However,
the internal conflict was about whether this was something that should
change so that Wakanda could help those around the world who weren’t
lucky enough to be born in an invisible kingdom. The entire
perspective of the riveting Killmonger (MICHAEL B. JORDAN
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been selfish in its isolation and left too many to suffer while they
thrived. He was an antagonist in that film as he sought to take the
kingdom to war against the rest of the world, but his perspective
still resonated in how justified it was. He would end up giving his
life for his cause and this left an impact on T’Challa (CHADWICK
BOSEMAN [[link removed]]) who tried to do
everything he could to right some of the many wrongs plaguing the
world by bringing Wakanda out into the open. Alas, this has now made
Wakanda a prime target for various world powers who are now seeking to
make up for lost time by exploiting the Wakandans however they can.

'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' Takes the Colonialism Conversation in
a New Direction

This is seen early on in _Black Panther: Wakanda Forever_ where,
after the tragic loss of T’Challa, his mother Queen Ramonda (ANGELA
BASSETT [[link removed]]) goes before the
United Nations. She isn’t there alone as she brings along captured
French soldiers that had attacked one of Wakanda's outposts in order
to obtain vibranium. It is a humorous show of force that demonstrates,
while Wakanda is not the aggressor, they will defend themselves.
Later, the CIA takes a crack at the classic resource extraction game
by going into the ocean with a machine designed to find vibranium. In
doing so, they cross into the domain of Namor (TENOCH HUERTA MEJÍA)
who is acutely aware of where this encroachment leads. Through
flashback, we see how he witnessed at a young age the horrifying
degradation that can befall the people who find themselves in the
crosshairs of colonial powers. In this case, it was the Spanish that
decimated everything they came into contact with. There is a hunger to
colonialism that will never be satiated and will consume all it can
for as long as it can. The film grounds itself in the characters’
attempts to interrupt this tragic trajectory as Namor tries to form an
alliance with Wakanda in the hopes that they will be able to protect
each other from the outside forces. For all they have in common, Namor
remains more attuned to what has happened in history and the fate that
awaits both nations in their future.

As we get to observe the vibrant worlds of both Wakanda and Talokan,
we see societies that have been able to flourish precisely because
they have been protected from the colonialism of the past. While the
story frequently shies away from grappling with the full narrative and
thematic scope of this element of the story, it is also baked into
every frame. It is seen in Namor’s elaborate paintings of Talokan
history and the joyous yet tragic funeral ceremony in Wakanda. This
freedom for culture and community to operate is antithetical to the
goals of colonial powers that seek to impose all-encompassing
subjugation. Though the scenes between Everett Ross (MARTIN FREEMAN
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Fontaine (JULIA LOUIS-DREYFUS
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distraction from the emotional core of the story, there is one
conversation that makes clear just how cruel the forces of colonialism
are. Everett, who believes he has been secretly providing information
to the Wakandans, defends his friends when confronted by Valentina who
was aware of his deception the whole time. It rightly makes clear that
the United States, the colonial power in this case, would likely not
have shown restraint had they had access to the powerful vibranium yet
will now justify Wakanda having it to threaten and attack them. It is
a looming conflict in a fictional story made busy by MCU excesses,
yes, but it also manages to tap into something far more significant.

When you peel back all the spectacle that plays out, there is a more
honest undercurrent to _Black Panther: Wakanda Forever_'s
worldbuilding that often proves to be sharp in identifying what it is
that is behind the threats that face down the characters.
Unfortunately, many of these intriguing ideas don’t get as explored
as deeply as one would have hoped. In many instances, it feels like
the film is just about to arrive at something more incisive before we
get thrown back into the frequently clunky machinations of the plot.
Obviously, it would be unlikely for a movie like this to abandon the
recurring blockbuster trappings to solely focus on a sociopolitical
storyline. Still, one had hoped it could do so a little more
thoroughly especially as the original had managed to tease out some
surprisingly complex storylines while also being a thrilling superhero
film. This doesn’t quite come together as well it did there as this
film frequently has to juggle a multitude of moving parts. With that
being said, even as it requires looking a little bit harder than the
prior iteration, the way Coogler is able to give glimpses of wondrous
worlds as a way of establishing what is lost when colonialism takes
hold reveals how there is a lot more going on in the background. No
matter how many CGI battles against fantastical forces populate these
stories, the more they grapple with these deeper ideas the better
they'll be.

 

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