Tag: Nakia

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever! New Trailer! New Images & More!

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Hey Everyone,

Paul here…

The Final Trailer for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has just dropped and this looks like one hell of an exciting film! In addition to the new trailer, which you can check out below, Wakanda Forever is introducing quite a few new characters and concepts into The MCU. With the movie’s release fast approaching, it seemed like a good idea to give you all a much better look at two of the new characters making their MCU debut in the film: Namor The Submariner and Riri William a.k.a. Iron Heart. In this article, we dive into how these exciting new characters affect the world of Wakanda, as well as the rest of The MCU. But first, watch the new trailer, right here:

As we’ll get into later in the article, to bring the character of Namor and his world to life, South American culture and mythology were huge influences for the filmmakers when it came to costumes, set design and more in the new film. Something you can see on display in the beautiful image below. Them gorgeous cover for this month’s issue of the excellent Empire Magazine, features (from left to right) Queen Ramonda, Shuri, and Namor.

NAMOR: THE SUBMARINER

Namor is one of Marvel’s oldest characters. Often featured in comics fighting alongside Captain America in WWII. He’s basically Marvel’s Aquaman, if Aquaman were a massive asshole who blurred the line between hero and villain.

Namor from a recent issue of Avengers

Like Aquaman, Namor is usually portrayed as the King of Atlantis. However, in Wakanda Forvever, while Atlantis still exists, Namor (played by Tenoch Huerta) will be the king of a different lost undersea kingdom called Talocan from Aztec mythology. This change takes nothing from the character, while adding a whole lot of potential. The filmmakers have created the opportunity for Namor himself, set design, costumes, VFX, and more to be inspired by Mesoamerican and South American mythology. From what we’ve seen in trailers and photos released from the film. The costume design and visuals for Namor, his people, and his kingdom, have looked spectacular. Wakanda was so richly and beautifully brought to life for these films, so it’s only appropriate that they attempt to do the same thing with Wakanda and Black Panther’s South American, antagonistic, counterpart. This has the added benefit of helping Namor stand out against the already successful and well established big screen version of Aquaman over at DC. We’ve already had a very successful Aquaman film with it’s own unique visual language, and by adding these beautiful flares to Namor’s world, it helps differentiate the two characters.

Namor

Namor and T’Challa arguably have one of, if not, the greatest rivalries in The Marvel Universe. The characters have a long history of animosity and bad blood, which is just another reason it’s a shame that we won’t see T’Challa appear in this film.

Until recently, it was unclear if one major part of Namor’s backstory would be translated into The MCU. However, it was recently revealed by Namor himself, actor Tenoch Huerta, that like his comic book counterpart, the Namor of The MCU is a Mutant. In the comics, Namor has often been referred to as one of “the first mutants”. His mother was Atlantean and his father was human, who passed the X-Gene on to him. Atlantean’s are already born with enhanced abilities from evolving at the ocean depths. The combination of his Atlantean heritage and his mutation, make Namor extremely powerful character with abilities far beyond those of normal Atlanteans. Namor is without question one of the heavy hitters of The Marvel Universe. Anybody who can go one on one with The Hulk is not to be taken lightly.

RIRI WILLIAMS: IRON HEART

Namor isn’t the only new character to make their debut in Wakanda Forever, Riri Williams a.k.a. Iron Heart (played by Dominique Thorne)will also apppear in the film, with her own Disney+ show to follow. A much more recent addition to The Marvel Universe, the character was created by Brian Michael Bendis in the pages of Invincible Iron Man. Riri is a teenage prodigy and a genius on par with Tony Stark or Shuri. While attending MIT, she reverse engineered the Iron Man armor and build her own armor out of materials taken from the MIT campus. She’s mentored by characters like Pepper and goes on to team up with other young heroes like Kamala Kahn’s Ms Marvel and Miles Morales.

A brief glance at the Iron Heart armor from the new trailer

She was shown briefly in the 1st trailer for Wakanda Forever, working alongside Shuri in her lab. There are a few quick shots in this new trailer, showing her working own her suit and flying into battle. Considering that the character is from Chicago in the comics, I suspect she’ll have begun working with Shuri through one of the Wakanda Outreach Programs T’Challa implemented at the end of the first Black Panther. Below we have the best look yet at the Iron Heart armor Riri will be wearing in the movie. Like a lot of superhero movie/TV reveals, this one came from promotional material for toys connected to the movie. You’d be surprised how often we get our first look at major comic book characters on film through toy advertisements.

Here’s Marvel’s official synopsis for Wakanda Forever: In Marvel Studios’ “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Shuri (Letitia Wright), M’Baku (Winston Duke), Okoye (Danai Gurira) and the Dora Milaje (including Florence Kasumba), fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T’Challa’s death. As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with the help of War Dog Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) and Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) and forge a new path for the kingdom of Wakanda. Introducing Tenoch Huerta as , king of a hidden undersea nation, the film also stars Dominique Thorne, Michaela Coel, Mabel Cadena and Alex Livanalli.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever hits theaters November 11th

Thanks for reading! Follow us on Twitter @PJWrightWBM, Instagram @worldsbestmedia2017, and our Facebook Page, Worlds Best Media. Those likes and follows, as well as iTunes reviews for the podcast, go a long way to supporting World’s Best Media. We really appreciate the loyalty and support shown to us by our fans, so thanks again! Stay healthy and stay safe!

-Paul

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FIRST LOOK: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever!

Published on by theworldsbestblogwithpaulwrightLeave a comment

Hey Everyone,

Paul here…

When The Marvel Cinematic Universe began with Iron Man, each subsequent film was building towards 2012’s modern classic, The Avengers. When The Avengers proved to be a smash hit, it was clear that The MCU wasn’t going anywhere. As they continued to build their mythology, the characters I wanted to see on the big screen more than any others were Doctor Strange and Black Panther. When they finally made their debut in The MCU, they didn’t disappoint. There’s still so much to look forward to in the comics.

T’Challa has an amazing rivalry with Namor The Submariner, The King of Atlantis (Basically Marvel’s more villainous version of Aquaman). Seeing a conflict between the two characters play out was high on the list of things I wanted to see come to life in The MCU.

I’m still unsure exactly how Marvel is going to handle Black Panther after Chadwick Boseman’s tragic and untimely death. I’m fairly certain it’s been stated that Marvel Studios doesn’t plan on killing off the character in The MCU. The sequel to Black Panther, titled Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is set to premiere in November. It looks like the plan is to shift the focus to the ensemble supporting cast from the first movie like T’Challa’s sister Shruri, Okoye The Head of The Dora Milaje, Nakia, a Wakandan spy and T’Challa’s former love interest, and M’Baku, leader of The Wakandan Mountain Tribe. This official promo art from the upcoming film shows how, both Shuri and Okoye will appear in the movie.

I’ve always maintained that Marvel should have waited a respectable amount of time and then recast the character. These characters are bigger than one actor who inhabits them. As much as we would love to see Chadwick Boseman in the Black Panther costume again, he’s in his family has come out to say that Chadwick would want the character to continue on after his passing. After speaking to Boseman’s brother, Derrick, TMZ reported “…Chadwick knew the power of the character, and the positive influence it carries. Derrick says there’s so much power in seeing a Black king — especially in a superhero capacity, like in the Marvel flick — which has a huge impact on African-American youth.” It’s like saying we should never have The Joker appear on screen again because Heath Ledger died.

What’s bittersweet for me, is that the new films story seems to be about a conflict breaking out between Wakanda and Atlantis. Which is awesome, but if Marvel wants to tell that story, T’Challa should be a part of it.

Tenoch Huerta

Actor Tenoch Huerta has a large, but unspecified role in Wakanda Forever. Most sources say that Huerta is indeed playing Namor. The character rides the line between anti-hero and villain, so I assumed he was the Big Bad in Wakanda Forever. However, new promo material for the upcoming movie has me thinking the film will portray Namor in a more heroic light. New promo images and an official character description has revealed that another long time Atlantean Marvel villain is appearing in the movie. A powerful bad guy named Attuma. Take a look at the character design and the character description below.

“Attuma was born into the tribe of Homo mermanus who eschewed civilization to live as nomadic barbarians. For some unrecorded reason, Attuma was endowed with strength far surpassing that of his people. Nearing adulthood, Attuma learned of a prophesy, in the lost Atlantean Chronicles, of a conqueror who would take the empire of Atlantis by force. Believing he is that conqueror, Attuma has launched numerous attacks on the city of Atlantis and its regent Namor the Sub-Mariner.”

As apprehensive as I am about this film, I must admit that this sounds very exciting. Marvel is once again pulling back the curtain on an entirely new part of the rich tapestry that makes up The Marvel Universe. I’ve always said that Black Panther’s best adversaries are characters like Namor and Doctor Doom because they’re all kings. The best hero and villain dynamics occurt when the characters are reflections of one another. Being King of Wakanda is one of the most fundamental aspects of who T’Challa is. He feels great responsibility to his country and his people. He’s more than just a King, he’s a great leader.

So putting him up against somebody in the same position, who has gone down a darker path, makes for some incredible storytelling opportunities. I think Ryan Coogler is a fantastic director, and he certainly has an absolutely stacked cast to work with. The first Black Panther film was excellent, Marvel knows what they’re doing. Hopefully, sometime in the near future, Marvel Studios will come to their senses and give us a new T’Challa/Black Panther. Not just for the fans, but to also honor the legacy of Chadwick Boseman and the character we saw him create and bring too life. As I mentioned before, from what I’ve heard, the character of T’Challa is not being killed off, so it will be interesting to see how they handle his absence. Almost the entire cast of the first film is returning for Wakanda Forever, not to mention that Wakanda itself is such a cool and unique setting, that it’s almost a character in its own right, so the filmmakers definitely have a lot to work with here. Every time I’ve had serious doubts about a decision Marvel Studios under Kevin Fiege has made, I end up eating my words. Hopefully that streak will continue and this will be the spectacular sequel that Black Panther deserves!

Thanks for reading! Follow us on Twitter @PJWrightWBM, Instagram @worldsbestmedia2017, and our Facebook Page, Worlds Best Media. Those likes and follows, as well as iTunes reviews for the podcast, go a long way to supporting World’s Best Media. We really appreciate the loyalty and support shown to us by our fans, so thanks again! Stay healthy and stay safe!

-Paul