Wakanda Forever: Communal Grief and Celebration
A good number of movie fans will be seeing Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in theaters starting Thursday night. In addition to the hype for the latest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’ll be the first film with a lot of the cast from 2018’s Black Panther without the presence of the late Chadwick Boseman.
Boseman passed away in 2020 after his battle with cancer. In his career, he’s played iconic Black figures such as James Brown, Jackie Robinson and Thurgood Marshall. But it’s his role as King T’Challa in Black Panther that amplified his stardom in Hollywood. The suit he wore during the movie will be enshrined in the Smithsonian Museum. The strength he showed, especially during the press tour for Black Panther, was remarkable. Continuously gesturing, “Wakanda Forever” with his arms across his chest while battling cancer is a heroic feat done by a heroic man.
With his loss and the release of Wakanda Forever, the film carries a mournful tone around it. Grief—love persevering, as Vision put it—fills the hearts of fans and cast members alike. But that grief we will feel so not just be rooted in missing Chadwick.
There will be tears. I’ve no doubt.
As we continue to endure years with of death and despair, we have been without communal grief for so long. Think about how much distance and isolation we have been in because of the pandemic. And while the world has opened up and we are able to congregate in public spaces, we have not had the opportunity to mourn what was lost. Life, in so many ways and as the result of so many entities and ideals, has had to go on, regardless of the mounting tragedies both individually and collectively. So, for those who walk into the theatre to see Wakanda Forever, again I say:
There will be tears.
And that’s okay. We need fellowship in mourning. It’s so hard to grieve alone. In the middle of honoring what has been lost and the way we have all changed mentally, spiritually and emotionally, celebrate what we still have and what those who are no longer here were in their lives. Embrace it all. Find community in the celebration of life. Watch Wakanda Forever both as a memorial and a superhero movie. Let your emotions swell and overflow. Release. Cry.
Because there will be tears.