At the Wakanda Forever premiere in London, cameras flashed as the cast of the eagerly awaited continuation of Marvel’s Black Panther walked the red carpet.
Black Panther, an international phenomenon that was released in 2018 and praised as a landmark for racial diversity in Hollywood, is a fictitious African nation set in Wakanda. It was the first superhero movie with a predominately Black cast, and it was released by Disney-owned Marvel.
The Marvel blockbuster had a favourable effect on cast members’ opinions on the continent in Wakanda Forever.
According to Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong’o, who plays Nakia, one of the key characters, “Embracing the richness that is African culture has resulted in other people embracing their own cultures as well.”
She remarked, “We are honouring our culture and where we come from in a way that is really inclusive.
With $1.3 billion in ticket sales, Black Panther finished the year as the second-highest-grossing film globally and the top film in the United States and Canada.
Florence Kasumba, the movie’s star, remarked during the premiere, “I would have needed that movie as a kid since there aren’t that many role models.”
The movie, in the opinion of Ayodeji Aiyesimoju, a lecturer in media studies at Nigeria’s Joseph Ayo Babalola University, represented a turning moment in Black history and disproved certain common misconceptions about Africa.
“It made room for questioning in dialogues. People had a sincere desire to learn more about the continent, he claimed in an interview.
He added that he would like to see more Black actors in Hollywood and more collaborations between major studios in the U.S. and Britain and in nations like Ghana and Nigeria, but that African film companies could do more to take advantage of the chance.
One member of the Nigerian film industry claimed that Black Panther was nothing more than another example of how Westerners were profiting off of their own glorified representation of Africa.
Danai Gurira, a Zimbabwean actress who was born in America and portrays the superhero “Okoye” in both films, said: “But you have to understand that Africa had an impact on Black Panther.
“My role is all about looking at Africa and presenting that to the world,” I said.
