“Wakanda forever” was the battle cry from Okoye in Black Panther – a rousing call that reached beyond the confines of the plot of the film and into the pop culture diaspora. Professional athletes started doing the Wakanda salute to each other in celebration, while people started campaigns to enable young school children to watch and be inspired by the adventures of T’Challa, Shuri, Okoye and Nakia.
Black Panther took the super hero genre to Shakespearean levels of storytelling and powered its way to become the highest-grossing super hero film in US box office history. Okoye called “Wakanda forever”, and the people responded. Wakanda, its people and the legend of Black Panther became more than just a setting for super heroes, but an idea – of smart, talented people across a culture uniting for a common goal.
The great thing about Black Panther’s Wakanda is Marvel fans don’t have long to wait for their next instalment of vibranium-powered excellence, as the fictional east African nation will play a key part in Avengers: Infinity War.
After a decade of nods, winks and teases, Avengers: Infinity War will finally see Thanos come to Earth to claim the long-hunted infinity stones and lay waste to half of the universe. Considering all the damage Loki did to New York in the first Avengers film with only one stone, it’s clear that our heroes are going to have their work cut out to stop the “mad titan” from causing the end of well, pretty much everything.
Luckily Wakanda is a place like no other. For years T’Challa’s homeland has been the rumoured location of the sixth and final infinity stone – the soul stone, a nifty little tool that allows passage to the spirit world and possible mastery of the afterlife, and is said to be the missing heart of the gold-encrusted glove that is Thanos’s “infinity gauntlet”.
Watching Thanos’s armies crashing Wakanda’s borders in the two recent Avengers: Infinity War trailers seems to confirm this; there’s something hiding in the great nation that Thanos is keen to find.
The sheer scale of this invasion beggars belief. In 2012, film audiences were wowed by the sight of Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye assembling to defeat Loki and his Chitauri hordes in the battle of New York. This time the Battle of Wakanda will include the original six Avengers (we hope Hawkeye is hiding in there somewhere), the Guardians of the Galaxy, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Scarlet Witch and Vision. Then there’s Black Panther, his Dora Milaje special forces, M’Baku and the Winter Soldier in support.
Wakanda may have been introduced as a separatist nation to the Marvel universe but, come April, the home of Black Panther is going to be very collaborative as Earth-199999 (that’s the version of Earth that houses all of Marvel’s cinematic heroes) defends itself. That humanity will make its last stand not in New York, London or Paris, but in Africa – the birthplace of human civilisation – is hugely special.
“Wakanda forever” was the call from Okoye in Black Panther. Watching every super hero under the sun gather to fight for that call is going to be truly captivating.
Avengers: Infinity War hits cinemas in the UK Thursday 26 April
