Marvel Animation Unveils First Episode Of ‘Eyes Of Wakanda' Opening In Ancient Crete & Setting Up 3,000-Year Search For Stolen Vibranium Artefacts
Opening in Crete some 3,000 years ago, the first instalment unfolds in the wake of the theft of Wakandan technological treasures fashioned out of Vibranium by a general (voiced by Cress Williams) who has turned rogue and is using them to build his own tyrannical 'Lion' Kingdom.
More from Deadline
Tom Clancy's 'Splinter Cell: Deathwatch': Fans Go Wild For Clips Of Netflix Animated Series At Annecy As Creative Team Detail Inspirations Ranging From Michael Mann To Satoshi Kon To Tom Cruise
Stephen Curry, Caleb McLaughlin, Gabrielle Union, & Nick Kroll Set For Voice Cast Of Sony Pictures Animation's Sports-Themed Movie 'Goat'– Annecy
'Animal Farm' Review: Andy Serkis Directs Seth Rogen And All-Star Voice Cast In Clever And Chilling Take On Orwell's Classic Novella - Annecy Animation Festival
Disgraced female Wakandan warrior Noni (voiced by Winnie Harlow), who has been banished from the kingdom's female elite forces the Dora Milaje for disobedience, is dispatched on a mission to track-down the general and bring him back.
Noni finds herself up against Lion's violent henchmen and women in series of fight-to-the-death encounters aboard the tyrant's grandiose sailing ship, which lies at the heart of a vast naval fleet.
In the process, she learns about the existence of the Hatut Zaraze, an under the radar Wakandan secret service, which will now be charged with the task of retrieving the stolen vibranium artefacts throughout history.
'The show is anthology adjacent. We have the spark or impetus for the show: someone takes something that doesn't belong to them and like any person or institution, they make a concerted effort to get it back,' explained Harris in a Q&A after the screening.
'Wakanda is a 3,000-year-old society. They have a very succinct self-identity and they're preserving that,' he continued. 'We get the chance to see the kind of persistence and character of Wakandans. The premise of the show is what's the kind of culture that builds the Black Panther? You see this even in their generals, their sergeants, everyday citizens.
'Everybody in Wakanda is like a physicist… you see their patience over centuries to see work, that they will never be able to see get finished but they believe in their mission as a culture, to see this work through. So we kind of hopscotch through time, as we see these people pursue the goals of their country, which is to preserve the secret of their technology and who they are.'
Harris confirmed that the series would unfold over several different eras as Hatut Zaraze agents embark on missions to trackdown different artefacts.
'They get scattered to the four winds, and it's like there are tags back in antiquity… this is mostly a spy story. As you met with Noni, it's people who are in the real world, they have real world experiences, make real world connections, but they also have their nationalist obligation to see the well-being of their people or their culture.'
Describing the world of Wakanda 'like Star Trek which is dropped in the middle of Africa', Harris said he, Black Panther producer Ryan Cooger and the series writers had gone in various directions as they built Wakanda's ancient history from scratch, while remaining true to sci-fi roots.
'Ryan really just let us go hog wild. He was very inspirational. He really zeroed in on the Sea People of the Bronze Age. It's a very contested historical point in history, this thing where these people kind of raided everybody. The premises was, what if they were led by Wakandans? What kind of disruptive force would they be in this era?,' said Harris.
He added that the glue of the show would be the mission and the Wakandan culture, as episodes jumped from different settings and villains through time.
Harris, who worked mainly as a storyboard artist – with his credits including the John Wick franchise as well as movies such as Black Panther, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Sinners – said this experience had stood him in good stead for transitioning into animation.
'Feature films is a different animal and live action is, of course, where I live at for the most part but I love animation,' he said.
'Animation gives you opportunities that are just built into the nature of what it is that you can't quite get in live action. I once said that one of the beauties of animation is that Brooklyn cost just as much as Mars because it's all art direction, and so you you get Instant buy-in with fantastic concepts.'
The four-part series debuts on Disney+ on August 6, 2025.
Best of Deadline
Sean 'Diddy' Combs Sex-Trafficking Trial Updates: Cassie Ventura's Testimony, $10M Hotel Settlement, Drugs, Violence, & The Feds
A Full Timeline Of Blake Lively & Justin Baldoni's 'It Ends With Us' Feud In Court, Online & In The Media
Where To Watch All The 'John Wick' Movies: Streamers That Have All Four Films
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Ozzy Osbourne Dead at 76
Ozzy Osbourne Dead at 76 originally appeared on Parade. , known as the lead singer of Black Sabbath as well as his own illustrious—and often controversial—solo career, has died. He was 76. His death was confirmed in a statement toThe Sun on Tuesday, July 22. "It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning," the statement read. "He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time. Sharon, Jack, Kelly, Aimee and Louis." Osbourne was first diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2003, though it wasn't until more recent years he began to open up about it. He also required multiple spinal surgeries as a result of a fall in 2019 that affected metal rods he had inserted following a quad bike crash in 2003, and battled on and off for years with alcohol and drug abuse. In late 2023, Osbourne spoke about his prognosis with Rolling Stone UK, suggesting that he only had ten years left to live, "at best." He wasn't letting the prospect of death get him down, though, noting, "I don't fear dying, but I don't want to have a long, painful and miserable existence. I like the idea that if you have a terminal illness, you can go to a place in Switzerland and get it done quickly." Back in 2007, wife Sharon Osbourne shared that the couple had initiated a death pact with one another following the death of her father after a difficult battle with Alzheimer's. She and her husband agreed to die by euthanasia if either one of them were ever diagnosed with the same disease, and later updated the pact to include any illness or other issue that prevented them from living life normally. In late 2023, the couple doubled down on the plans, much to their children's shock. His health caused a number of postponements and cancellations in the later years of his career, with his last full concert occurring in 2018. In early 2023, he took to social media to share "one of the hardest things [he 's] ever had to share with [his] loyal fans," announcing that he was canceling his planned international tour as his body was too "physically weak" to "deal with the travel required." "Never would I have imagined that my touring days would have ended this way," he wrote, thanking fans for holding out hope and having "patiently held onto your tickets for all this time." "I was really pissed off with myself, the doctors, and the world," he told Rolling Stone when looking back at the start of his touring troubles. "But as time has gone on, I've just gone, 'Well, maybe I've just got to accept that fact.'" Still, he adamantly denied retirement rumors that followed, and hoped to find a way to do one final farewell show. "I just want to be well enough to do one show where I can say, 'Hi guys, thanks so much for my life.' That's what I'm working towards, and if I drop down dead at the end of it, I'll die a happy man.' His passing comes just a few short weeks after that final farewell show came to fruition in the form of Back to the Beginning, a festival celebration honoring his illustrious career with countless tributes from other legendary musicians, which also served as his final live performance. He leaves behind his wife, Sharon, with whom he shares daughters Aimee and Kelly and son Jack, as well as kids Jessica and Louis, whom he shares with his first wife, Thelma, his stepson, Elliot, from the same relationship, and nine Osbourne Dead at 76 first appeared on Parade on Jul 22, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on Jul 22, 2025, where it first appeared. Solve the daily Crossword
Washington Post
an hour ago
- Washington Post
Ozzy Osbourne's fame never felt as big as his music
It takes great effort to cleanse your brain of the bat biting and reality television goofballing, but please try hard because the futuristic wail of Ozzy Osbourne — especially during an impeccable decade he spent in the band Black Sabbath — still has something important to tell you. Namely, that it can feel good to be frightened by your nightmares when reality is worse.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Alexander Skarsgård addresses fan theories that 'this' Taylor Swift song is about him
"He's so tall, and handsome as hell" – but is he Alexander Skarsgård? For years, one of the favorite Swiftie fan theories has purported that Taylor Swift's steamy song "Wildest Dreams" from her 1989 album was written about the Swedish actor, with whom she briefly worked on the 2014 film The Giver. Dax Shepard attempted to get Skarsgård to speak on the matter in a new episode of his Armchair Expert podcast. Shepard told his guest that for years, he has tried convincing his two young daughters, who are big fans of Swift's music, that the song is actually about him. He recalled how he continued the bit when he took his 12-year-old daughter, Lincoln, to an Eras Tour concert in Lisbon, Portugal, and Swift played the song during the 1989 portion of her set. "And then in my f---ing research today, I read that the song is about you," Shepard told Skarsgård, who laughed and then tried to pin it back on Shepard. "Wait, she saw you in the audience, and she's like, 'I'm gonna sing this song' — maybe it is about you," Skarsgård joked of Shepard, adding, "I wasn't in the crowd in Lisbon, so it was clearly about you." Shepard then asked his guest if he, too, had "the same fear to either acknowledge or deny that that could be true because the power of the Swifties is so strong that you just don't wanna talk about it." The Murderbot actor laughed and admitted, 'Yeah.' Shepard then remarked that he couldn't believe he'd been making that joke with his kids for six years. Skarsgård added, "It's about Brad Pitt, guys, let's be honest." The actor didn't confirm or deny that the song is about him, but he did eventually joke, "I'm going to be honest. I wrote the lyrics of that song myself and sent it to Taylor. 'Taylor, here's what you should say.'" Jokes aside, when the topic of being a fan of Swift's music came up, Skarsgård sweetly said, "We're all Swifties." The theory goes like this: Because the "Wildest Dreams" music video depicts a short-lived fling between two film costars, and because the video was shot in South Africa like The Giver, and because Swift dons a dark-haired wig in both the video and the film, the song could be about Skarsgård. The song itself doesn't provide many clues to the love interest's identity other than the aforementioned lyrics that he is "so tall" and "handsome as hell," but that hasn't stopped Swifties from speculating. For her part, Swift never confirms who her songs are about (if anyone), and "Wildest Dreams" is no different. Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly
