When it comes to superhero movies, Black Adam has been dominant at the box office for three weeks now, but that is set to come to a spectacular end this week as Black Panther: Wakanda Forever shows its claws with a massive projected opening weekend haul of $365million worldwide. Put that in context, if the predictions hold true, this would not only give Black Panther; Wakanda Forever the third-highest debut of the last two years, but will also be virtually equal to the amount Black Adam has taken in its entire run so far.
Marvel’s dominance at the box office has never shown any signs of slowing down, even during the early part of the Covid pandemic, and with some of its Phase Four movies not receiving the greatest reviews. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will be the final movie before Marvel’s Multiverse storyline kicks into gear in Phase Five, and it everything seems to be in place for a fitting end to Marvel’s mourning period.
Kevin Feige previous explained that the underlying theme of the MCU’s Phase Four was to see the characters reflecting and coming to terms with the losses suffered during Avengers: Endgame, and there is nowhere that loss is being felt more than in Wakanda for reasons no one expected when Black Panther: Wakanda Forever went into production. While the movie was original set to deal with Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa coming to terms with his “lost” five years during the Blip, the shock death of Boseman in 2020 changed the entire purpose of the film.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Is Chadwick Boseman’s Marvel Legacy
The story of T’Challa had only just begun in the MCU, but the real life passing of Chadwick Boseman brought it to a premature end. Now Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will continue his legacy, and as many of the cast and production team have stated, the film will stand as a “love letter” to the late star. One person who has discussed how Boseman’s influence was carried into the sequel is director Ryan Coogler, who recently said:
"It's complicated, it's complicated, you know? What I will say is Chadwick was all about – he was all about pushing things forward while being aware of what took place behind him. So that's why I was trying to channel him, you know what I mean? In terms of going through this process. Understanding that we have to keep moving forward, you know, even though we lost him in a physical sense, you know what I'm saying? He was a giant man. A giant of a man, you know, like the screen couldn't contain him. Like to watch his movies is to only know a piece of him, you know what I mean? And we felt so fortunate to know the whole guy, and we try and honor him on this one."
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever arrives in cinemas on November 11 to close off Phase Four of the MCU.