Animated ‘Eyes of Wakanda' is a worthy, but too short, addition to the MCU

San Francisco Chronicle​

3 days ago

Marvel Studios has always prided itself on being a universe of interlocking stories, but one of the quieter strengths of Disney's superhero factory has been the ability to pivot into new and different genres while keeping the connective tissue intact. That was true when 'Guardians of the Galaxy' introduced space opera into the mix and again when 'WandaVision' flirted with sitcom surrealism in the aftermath of 'Avengers: Endgame.'
With 'Eyes of Wakanda,' Marvel has a new animated anthology of four half-hour episodes that feels both impressively expansive and disappointingly fleeting, even as it spans millennia. It's a lavishly realized glimpse into a corner of the MCU, executive-produced by 'Black Panther' director (and Oakland native) Ryan Coogler and developed by veteran Marvel storyboard artist Todd Harris, but each episode's brevity works against the whole.
While the Dora Milaje — the warrior bodyguards led by Danai Gurira's Okoye — have become mainstays of Wakanda's onscreen mythology, the spotlight here is on the War Dogs: deep-cover operatives tasked with recovering stolen artifacts and safeguarding Wakanda's secrets. The series uses these missions as narrative waypoints, jumping from 1260 B.C. to the 19th century to lend new context to important historical and mythological moments.
If that sounds like a setup rife with possibilities, it is. And therein lies both the show's appeal and its frustration. Each episode introduces new characters, establishes the mission at hand and then wraps before the audience has had time to form much of a connection. This isn't entirely the fault of the storytelling, of course. A show spanning thousands of years is bound to rely on thematic rather than character continuity. Still, the result is an experience that's rich in scope but emotionally thin.
What's on offer, however, is undeniably striking. The animation eschews the cel-shaded hybrid look of the recently concluded 'What If…?' in favor of lush backgrounds, painterly compositions and action sequences that often resemble moving concept art. Harris' history as a visual artist shows in every frame. From windswept battlefields to shadowy palaces, the rich visual palette grounds the fantasy in Coogler's live-action films while still establishing its own aesthetic identity.
The voice cast also rises to the occasion, including Cress Williams as the Lion — a rogue War Dog whose betrayal sets the series' central conflict and mission into motion — and Winnie Harlow as Noni, a former Dora Milajae tasked with stopping him. Throughout the season, we also hear strong work from Larry Herron, Lynn Whitfield and Gary Anthony Williams, among others.
Of course, for MCU obsessives, the ties to the broader Marvel mythology are always half the fun. Without giving too much away, the series introduces a new iteration of Iron Fist (Jona Xiao) bound to overshadow the execrable Netflix version. At the same time, the finale neatly lays out plot threads that reframe aspects of the 'Black Panther' mythology. In that respect, 'Eyes of Wakanda' mirrors the best of Marvel's one-shots: supplemental material enriching the story's larger world while carving out its own identity. In this instance, the scale and ambition hint at a series that could and should be much larger.
Ultimately, that's the paradox of 'Eyes of Wakanda.' In an era where Marvel projects are routinely dinged for being too long, here's one that's not long enough — that's over just as it feels like it's finding its rhythm. That may not be the worst problem, but it does mean this debut season plays more like a prologue than the next great chapter of the MCU.
Zaki Hasan is a freelance writer.