Writer-director Ryan Coogler is working on a script for Black Panther 3, but it will be some time before we see the fruits of his labor on the big screen. That said, the world of Wakanda is still expanding, with the animated anthology Eyes of Wakanda set to tide us over through 2025.
Helmed by Black Panther story artist Todd Harris, Eyes of Wakanda will trace the history of the fictional African nation across thousands of years. Unlike most of Marvel’s animated shows, it’s canon to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which means the show could introduce characters and concepts that appear in future projects. Its biggest addition to the MCU may be the Hatut Zaraze, a group of Wakandan secret agents who work in the shadows to protect Wakanda’s secrets. But the series will also remix a forgotten Marvel character, bringing the MCU a new take on Iron Fist that corrects one of the franchise’s biggest failures.
Harris appeared at this year’s Annecy Animation Festival to unveil the first episode of Eyes of Wakanda. The four-part series is “hop-scotching through centuries” as it follows Wakandan secret agents in their efforts to recover their nation’s stolen artifacts. “It’s mostly a spy story,” Harris said. Each episode follows a different agent in a different era, “balancing what they see with their nationalist agenda.”
Though there are only four 30-minute episodes, Harris insists they’ll make an impact. Eyes of Wakanda should bring some much-needed context to the fictional nation, but it might also pave the way for a forgotten hero to step into the larger MCU. “There will be an Iron Fist in here,” Harris teased, “and not the Iron Fist you expect.”
Fans of Netflix’s Marvel shows should already be familiar with Iron Fist, aka Danny Rand (Finn Jones). His solo series ran for two seasons, and Jones continued his role in a crossover, The Defenders. That said, he’s perhaps the least popular member of that team, with Charlie Cox’s Daredevil and Krysten Ritter’s Jessica Jones having enjoyed the bulk of the limelight.
Danny Rand felt outdated years before Iron Fist hit Netflix. A white man becoming the greatest martial artist in the world at a time when conversations about cultural appropriation had reached their zenith was in poor taste, and parts of his story had already been explored in other, more popular superhero shows, like Arrow. His series had some redeeming qualities, and he does get great opportunities to evolve in Defenders, but Danny Rand is still a part of the MCU that most would rather forget.
Ironically, Iron Fist ends with a new character, Coleen Wing (Jessica Henwick), taking on the mantle. The series was cancelled before it could explore her tenure, but it was a promising idea. Marvel has put even more distance between Iron Fist and Danny Rand since, with the comics introducing a new Iron Fist, Lin Lie, in 2022. He’s become the version of the hero that most recognize thanks to his inclusion in Marvel Rivals.
With two incarnations of the hero already well established, Eyes of Wakanda has options, and whoever appears in the animated series might then be able to make the jump to live-action. With two Defenders already set to reunite in Daredevil: Born Again, Marvel is clearly interested in beefing up that corner of the MCU. Iron Fist could be the next piece of that puzzle, making Eyes of Wakanda even more important.
