Film Phase 4 — Multiverse Opens (2024–2025)

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

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

"Forever."

Released November 11, 2022 2h 41m ★ Essential

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.

Where It Fits in the MCU

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever sits at position 104 of 133 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.