With only a few months left for the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever to make it to the big screens. Winston Duke the actor who plays M’Baku, the Chief of the Jabari Tribe, revealed that the Wakanda we will see in this movie is completely different than what we have seen in the earlier movies. With its king gone and after withstanding so many battles, it is evident that this Wakanda can’t be the same but it has to stay strong for what’s coming ahead. The actor even went on to compare the post-Endgame Wakanda to the modern post-pandemic world.
Not the same Wakanda no more:
In the first Black Panther movie, we saw King T’Challa representing Wakanda in the United Nations, and opening its gates to the outside world. But then in Avengers: Infinity War, we watched the Mad Titan’s army engage with the army of Wakanda and the Avengers in a massive battle, which bought nothing destruction, including half of the people being turned into dust due to Thanos’ snap. Following this, we also watched the Wakandan army along with Shuri and T’Challa appear in the colossal Endgame Battle with Thanos.
Even after the defeat of Thanos and the return of the people who disappeared due to the blip, it was still a phase where the whole world was just trying to cope with the changes of the snap.
But the woes don’t end here as very sadly the actor who played T’Challa, Chadwick Boseman, passed away back in 2020, and Marvel announced it won’t recast the role. Instead, it will pass on the mantle of Black Panther, which means like the upcoming movie’s teaser shows, we will watch a Wakanda standing strong while mourning the loss of their respected ruler.
Winston Duke speaks about the New Wakanda in Black Panther 2:
In the last Black Panther movie, we saw the Jabari or the Mountain Tribe existing in isolation, as they oppose the use of vibranium in modern technology, and believe more in their tradition and culture. But by the end, their leader M’Baku was successful in seeing the new ways of life, and came to support Wakanda in its battle against Eric Killmonger.
After this, he became a full-fledged ally to T’Challa and even supported Wakanda in its fight against Thanos. But as Winston Duke says, M’Baku has a lot to do in the upcoming movie, more than a mere cameo. According to him, in these times, they understand that to stand strong and protect Wakanda, each and everyone has to come forward and fight for it. Isolation won’t save anyone, but unity can:
“I think the events of Infinity War and Endgame really showed that the Jabari are now full-fledged members of Wakanda. M’Baku was a part of every single conflict; every event, and I don’t think they could really exist in isolation anymore. They have open borders, and we saw that M’Baku was really Wakandan. His entire community has expanded.”
The actor also drew an amazing parallel to M’Baku’s character in this upcoming movie as an individual like us who has to figure out how to move forward just like we are doing in the post-pandemic era:
“Now we get to see how he figures out a brand-new world for Wakanda; a brand-new world like we’ve had to experience. A world post-COVID; a world post-pandemic or mid-pandemic. Much like us, he’s going through a lot of the same things and figuring out how to move forward. This movie really deals and dives into that a lot.”
Winston Duke’s words about the Jabari Tribe’s new ways and more involvement in the affairs of Wakanda also proved themselves in the movie’s recently launched teaser where we can watch M’Baku embroiled in a full-fledged war against the sub-mariner Namor. And now it is also sure that the Mountain Tribe’s brave warriors will help Wakanda fight this war with the underwater residents.
Besides everything, Black Panther 2 also has a very big responsibility on its shoulders: to conclude phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe; so it will be very interesting to watch in which direction this movie goes.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will introduce Namor to the MCU. Not only that but it will also introduce Riri Williams aka Ironheart, but the most important question still persists regarding who will take up the mantle of the Black Panther as we have zero updates on that character yet, and to find that now we can do nothing but wait.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will hit the theaters on November 11, 2022.
Source: Collider
