Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is one of those movies that doesn’t come around very often. It’s a Marvel movie, so of course, it has massive blockbuster appeal, but it also manages to spotlight underrepresented elements of society that deserve to be acknowledged on a grand scale.
2018’s Black Panther was a major success, praised not just for its incredible storytelling, but for the way it brought black characters, culture and themes to the forefront. Amongst a slew of superhero films, Black Panther stood out as having something important to say, and the sequel is no different.
As always, that message is multifaceted, but one thing Black Panther: Wakanda Forever hones in on is its representation of women in technology and science.
In an interview with Gizmodo Australia, Marvel Studios producer Nate Moore revealed that one aspect that drew them to Letitia Wright’s character, Shuri, is the fact she is a young genius:
“I know cinematically, usually, the geniuses tend to be men, they tend to be older. And one of the things that drew us to Shuri as a character in the first film was that she was a young genius. Like, wasn’t that interesting that there was a young female genius at the head of the Wakandan design group and Wakanda?” Moore said.
Marvel has seen its share of male geniuses like Tony Stark and Bruce Banner, but in Black Panther, it’s the women who are celebrated for their smarts.
Moore went on to explain how they expanded the representation of women in technology by introducing Dominique Thorne’s Riri Williams in the sequel:
“In the second film to introduce Riri Williams, who’s a young genius in America, and to have these two women not only meet each other, but kind of bond over their shared love of science is something you don’t get to see a lot,” he said.
“I think that sometimes we make learning not cool, but the two coolest characters in this movie are the two smartest characters in this movie — and that’s awesome.”
There’s no doubt that Black Panther’s impact has been phenomenal. When the first film was released in cinemas it inspired massive fundraising movements to provide children of colour the chance to see such a culturally significant superhero film.
In Wakanda Forever, Black Panther offers an important message for women in STEM — that their pursuits are valid.
“Hopefully, if women and girls watch this film, they feel like ‘oh, it’s okay to engage in things that maybe we’ve been told institutionally aren’t for us’. Because the truth is, they totally are,” Moore reiterated.
“They’re for everybody, and it should be celebrated. Knowledge should be celebrated.”
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever opens in Australian cinemas on November 10.