Eyes of Wakanda feels like fanfiction turned into Marvel history

The Verge

3 days ago

Ryan Coogler's first Black Panther feature set itself apart by pushing audiences to think about how comic book heroes and villains would fit into a world shaped by horrors like the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Black Panther and its 2022 sequel, Wakanda Forever, used their characters to comment on our reality's complicated and oftentimes ugly history as it relates to race and geopolitical conquest. And the films were so successful at the box office that Marvel made a point of locking in Coogler's Proximity Media production outfit for a multiyear deal to develop new projects for Disney Plus.
It was from that deal that Marvel's Ironheart series was born, but the studio had also made clear that it was interested in bringing more Wakandan stories to the streaming service. For years, there was speculation about whether Coogler might be keen on doing a Black Panther spinoff about one of the franchise's other African warriors from the present day. But the streamer's new Eyes of Wakanda animated anthology focuses on the fictional nation's distant past instead.
Similar to What If…?, Eyes of Wakanda leans hard into the fantastical and remixes pieces of the larger MCU canon in a way that makes it come across like Marvel-approved fanfiction. But the new series features much stronger visuals, and each of its four episodes tell self-contained narratives that have far more nuanced ideas about justice and morality. And after so many films and series about the multiverse, Eyes of Wakanda is a good reminder of how enjoyable Marvel's projects can be when the studio brings its storytelling down to Earth.
While there is a certain degree of connective tissue between its episodes, Eyes of Wakanda zooms in on a series of very different, pivotal moments from the nation's history. The series opens in the late 13th century, at a time when it is widely understood within Wakanda how important it is that outsiders remain in the dark about the kingdom's existence.
In the wrong hands, Wakanda's advanced technology and vast stores of vibranium could plunge the world into absolute chaos. Even though other countries are ill-equipped to take them on in battle, the Wakandans are careful about maintaining their secrecy. But they recognize the value in knowing what's happening around the world, which is why they recruit people like Noni (Winnie Harlow), a failed Dora Milaje, to become War Dogs — operatives tasked with carrying out covert missions beyond Wakanda's borders.
While Eyes of Wakanda frames most of its featured leads in a heroic light, it's clear that showrunner Todd Harris is interested in using the series to interrogate the ethical implications of Wakanda's approach to statecraft. In the earliest days of the War Dogs' existence as an organization, they represent a very real fear of what might happen if Wakanda and its creations were discovered. A few pieces of stolen Wakandan tech are all it takes for one traitor (Cress Williams) to convince foreigners that he's a god who has a right to enslave mortals. But as time goes on, the War Dogs' missions to recover lost vibranium artifacts become more like self-centered quests for glory than attempts at keeping the world safe. It's not always clear that what they're doing is morally sound, and there are multiple instances where operatives' emotional entanglements with outsiders come close to putting everyone in danger.
Because it's a series about highly trained warriors, Eyes of Wakanda is a touch more brutal than Marvel's previous Disney Plus series. The show is peppered with blood-smattered action sequences where characters are maimed and, in one notable instance, killed with an axe to the head. But there are also elements of whimsy woven throughout — especially in one episode set in Ancient Greece that unfolds like an interpolation of The Song of Achilles.
Unlike What If…?, which was focused on expanding Marvel's multiverse, Eyes of Wakanda puts more of its energy into highlighting real pieces of African history that inspired Black Panther's lore. There is still plenty of larger-than-life sci-fi zaniness, though, which keeps things from getting too dry. Out of all the recent animated anthology projects currently streaming, Eyes of Wakanda actually feels most like Hulu's Predator: Killer of Killers in the way it keeps things short and sweet before bringing it all full circle. It makes for a solid bit of Marvel storytelling — the kind that the studio probably wants to make more of now that it's trying to prioritize quality over quantity.
Eyes of Wakanda also stars Lynn Whitfield, Jona Xiao, Steve Toussaint, Anika Noni Rose, Patricia Belcher, and Gary Anthony Williams. All four episodes are now streaming on Disney Plus.
Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
See All by Charles Pulliam-Moore
Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
See All Comics
Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
See All Disney
Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
See All Entertainment
Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
See All Marvel
Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
See All Streaming
Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
See All TV Show Reviews
Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
See All TV Shows