I wasn't much of a fan of the first Black Panther film, as it was pushed purely on identity politics as opposed to substance. In other words, "watch this film, or you are a racist", which is a terrible way to promote a film. So I was in no rush to watch Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, especially since the original star of the film, Chadwick Boseman had tragically died. Some have suggested that the franchise should have just been left alone after his death, but Hollywood rarely cares about sentiment when there is money to be made.
The film starts with Shuri (Letitia Wright), the sister of the king of Wakanda, T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman who we obviously do not see outside of flashbacks from the first film), believing that a "heart-shaped plant" might heal the disease that is killing the monarch. After Erik Killmonger destroyed the herb, Shuri makes an unsuccessful attempt to synthetically recreate it before T'Challa passes away.
With all that said, I think it is worth seeing Wakanda Forever as a stand-alone film, forget about the fascist overtones of the original film, (race superiority, nationalistic tendencies, building a giant wall around your country to keep people out, refusing to share your technology, healthcare and so on with poorer nations around you), and instead really try to see this as a film in its own right. The general story has the leaders of Wakanda fighting to protect their nation in the wake of King T'Challa's death, from a bunch of blue Aquaman type people from the sea.
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