සුනිලි (they/them)

ALT How do you press forward in the wake of such an unmistakable tragedy? The world is so different than the one that the first Black Panther came into in 2018. For a multitude of reasons, both Marvel fandom and the general populace are struggling. As a culture, the United States especially struggles with loss and grief in particular. What were once cheers for Wakanda Forever at its unveiling became skepticism at its very existence when Boseman's loss was reported. Coogler made a point to tip the press off about what the animating question to his sequel would be: How do you carry on in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds?

ALT Understanding his viewpoint is pretty simple, considering the filmmaker was navigating a literal plague outside and the pressures of delivering a crowd-pleasing sequel to the one Marvel movie that even the Academy Awards had to step up and acknowledge with a Best Picture nomination. Making this all even more concrete, Coogler told Inverse that the original script for the film concerned grief. "[T'challa] was grieving time he couldn't get back. Grief was a big part of it," the director explained. How do you move forward when all that time has been lost? Like Black people in this country have been doing for years, he forged ahead with his eyes on unifying those contributing to this movie. The result is a tale of faith, identity, and legacy built upon the grief of the present. Wakanda Forever floats at the top of Phase 4 by allowing its emotions to overflow in order for something new to grow in its place.