Film Phase 4 — Multiverse Opens (2024–2025)

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Name: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Released: 2022-11-11
Duration: 161 min
Rating: 7
Cast: Letitia Wright, Tenoch Huerta Mejía, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke

"Forever."

Released November 11, 2022 2h 41m ★ 7.0TMDB ★ Essential to the MCU

Queen Ramonda, Shuri, M’Baku, Okoye and the Dora Milaje 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 and Everett Ross and forge a new path for the kingdom of Wakanda.

Watch note

T'Challa has died. Shuri becomes the new Black Panther. Namor and Talokan are introduced. Shuri and Namor both confirmed for Doomsday.

Why It Matters in the MCU

The sequel made under the shadow of Chadwick Boseman's death navigates grief as both its subject and its production reality, and the result is the franchise's most emotionally honest film since Endgame. Angela Bassett's Ramonda and Letitia Wright's Shuri carry the film's mourning as characters who respond to loss through opposite impulses — one through wisdom, one through rage. The introduction of Namor and Talokan as a parallel to Wakanda's isolationist history is the film's most intellectually ambitious move, and the underwater civilisation, rendered in Maya and Aztec-influenced aesthetics, is among the franchise's most visually distinctive world-building achievements.

Watch These First

21 titles lead into Black Panther: Wakanda Forever — 46 hours in total. 13 of the 21 are essential.

Captain America: The First Avenger Essential 2h 4m ★ 7.0
Captain Marvel Recommended 2h 4m ★ 6.8
Iron Man Essential 2h 6m ★ 7.7
Iron Man 2 Essential 2h 4m ★ 6.9
The Incredible Hulk Essential 1h 52m ★ 6.3
Iron Man 2 (Post-Credit Scene) Essential 0h 2m
Thor Essential 1h 55m ★ 6.8 +2 before this
Captain America: The First Avenger (Credits) Essential 0h 2m
Thor (Post-Credit Scene) Essential 0h 2m
The Avengers Essential 2h 23m ★ 8.1 +2 before this
Iron Man 3 Essential 2h 10m ★ 6.9
Thor: The Dark World Essential 1h 52m ★ 6.5
Captain America: The Winter Soldier Essential 2h 16m ★ 7.7 +3 before this
Guardians of the Galaxy Recommended 2h 1m ★ 7.9
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Recommended 2h 16m ★ 7.6
Avengers: Age of Ultron Essential 2h 21m ★ 7.3
Captain America: Civil War Essential 2h 27m ★ 7.5 +1 before this
Eyes of Wakanda (Season 1) Essential 2h ★ 6.2
Black Panther Essential 2h 14m ★ 7.4
Spider-Man: Homecoming Recommended 2h 13m ★ 7.3
Doctor Strange Recommended 1h 55m ★ 7.4
Thor: Ragnarok Recommended 2h 10m ★ 7.6 +2 before this
Avengers: Infinity War Recommended 2h 29m ★ 8.2 +5 before this
Captain Marvel (Post-Credits Scene) Recommended 0h 2m
Avengers: Endgame Recommended 3h 2m ★ 8.2 +10 before this
Avengers: Endgame Encore Recommended 3h 5m +10 before this

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Where It Fits in the MCU

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever sits at position 127 of 158 in the MCU's story-chronological order, placing it within the Phase 4 — Multiverse Opens (2024–2025) era. It is rated Essential — must-watch for following the main MCU narrative. Watching in story-chronological order provides the most coherent character development experience — individual arcs build naturally toward the franchise's major crossover events, with each film's post-credits scenes carrying forward into what follows.