Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) (1 Viewer)

[Sean Bryan]

Some promotional artwork for two new MCU characters. One of these has an upcoming Disney+ show but is first appearing in Wakanda Forever. The other is pretty old school Marvel and has been rumored to debut in WF for a while now.

Spoiler

 

[Sean Bryan]

As long as

Spoiler

they keep the short shorts.

Looks like they are. More or less.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I'm not looking behind those spoiler tags. But I've been wondering about a trailer. Disney doesn't have any new tentpole films being released between Thor: Love and Thunder and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Obviously, the two are aiming for the same audience. So I was thinking that the teaser would debut with Love and Thunder. But it would have to debut this upcoming week to do that. Disney does have a re-release of the original Avatar in September, but besides that, they're not releasing anything in the next few months. Of course, that doesn't preclude a trailer going out with other movies, but Disney traditionally likes to debut their trailers with their own films.

 

[TravisR]

Looks like they are. More or less.

I'm pleasantly amused/surprised.

I'm not looking behind those spoiler tags.

I'd bet the farm that it'll be in all of the marketing but just in case, don't look.

 

[jayembee]

I love the tweet accompanying the image of Riri Williams that appears to believe that she's an entirely new character made up to be a new Disney princess. She's been in the comics for about six years, so she doesn't pre-date the MCU, but she wasn't created for the MCU.

Reminds me of a comment I read in another forum around the time that the Supergirl TV series debuted where the person believed that she was just a female version of Superman created for the TV show because they weren't able to use Superman. I replied with a cover image of her debut comic book from 1959. Likewise, I recall someone on-line believing that the Fantastic Four movie that Fox made in 2005 was a rip-off of The Incredibles.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I'm pretty sure that's fan art anyway. While Jason Pastrana is a professional concept artist, he isn't credited on any MCU projects and appears to do a lot of professional-quality Marvel fan art.

 

[Sam Favate]

Seems unlikely we’ll see a trailer next week, which is unfortunate. The movie is only 4 months away. We routinely see teasers for movies that are 6 months or more away. However, BP2 had a tough production so I imagine they’ll be working on this to the last minute.

 

[Jake Lipson]

However, BP2 had a tough production so I imagine they’ll be working on this to the last minute.

I agree they will probably be working on the movie for a while yet, and that's fine. But I don't think they have to have finished the movie to prepare a trailer. It seems incredibly unlikely to me that they don't have enough footage right now to cut a teaser that would only need to last a couple of minutes. If they don't put the trailer out now, it's because they don't want to, not because they couldn't.

However, they don't really need to advertise it several months out. Love and Thunder had its first trailer on Multiverse of Madness and it seems to have worked out okay. Marvel knows that they have a dedicated audience who will show up no matter what.

If the trailer for Wakanda Forever is not on Love and Thunder, they are probably saving it for a splashy debut at either Comic-Con or D23. Marvel will almost certainly have a presence at both of those events, and Wakanda Forever is the last theatrical feature they have this year. (Unless you count the No Way Home extended cut, which is different because it is a re-release and going out through Sony anyway.). So I'm sure they will be hyping it heavily there in addition to whatever they reveal about their forthcoming slate.

 

[Joe Wong]

Thor: Love and Thunder released its teaser trailer on April 18, which I believe is the shortest window before an MCU film's release date (81 days). Wakanda Forever can wait until August 22 to match that record.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Wakanda Forever can wait until August 22 to match that record.

You're right. They could. But since they don't have another new new movie on the schedule between Love and Thunder and Wakanda Forever, they would be passing up the opportunity to put the trailer with one of their own films. I think part of the reason it was OK to wait so long to drop anything for Love and Thunder is because they knew that everybody going to Multiverse of Madness would see it.

But, again, Marvel knows they are following up one of their biggest hits here with a huge built-in fanbase. I don't think they need to do a really long marketing campaign. As long as the movie looks good, people are going to show up.

On the other hand, they did debut the trailer for Avatar: The Way of Water with Multiverse of Madness without dropping it online first. I wouldn't say it is likely that Disney will do this again, but it doesn't strike me as impossible. I do have to say it would be a fun surprise to go into Love and Thunder and have the Wakanda Forever trailer just show up unannounced.

The other possibility, however remote, is that they haven't started promoting Wakanda Forever yet because we need to see something in Love and Thunder first. I don't think this is very likely because Thor and Black Panther have usually occupied different corners of the MCU. The only times they crossed paths were when Thor came late to the Wakanda battle in the climax of Infinity War, and of course the Endgame final battle where everyone is involved. So it certainly seems like these two specific films are separate projects. But it isn't impossible that there could be a connection.

 

[Sam Favate]

Could it be the trailer will be after the credits of Thor? Like they did with Dr Strange and Spider-Man? I realize those two were more directly connected, but it’d be a way to surprise the audience.

 

[jayembee]

Could it be the trailer will be after the credits of Thor? Like they did with Dr Strange and Spider-Man? I realize those two were more directly connected, but it’d be a way to surprise the audience.

It's not unreasonable that one of the end titles tag scenes in Love and Thunder will be a scene from Wakanda.

 

[Joe Wong]

One of the intriguing aspects of Wakanda Forever is (due to Chadwick Boseman's untimely passing, and the decision not to recast) how they're going to explain T'Challa's (presumed) death.

If they're going to show him dying in the opening scenes, they would need a stand-in and/or use CGI.

If they're going to start with him already dead, they need a reason for how and why. Would also feel a little sudden (in MCU world, at least), with nothing to prepare the audience. (This may feel similar to one of the criticisms of Alien3, where

Spoiler

Newt and Hicks is killed off/dead as the film opens.)

Both, to me, feel somewhat unsatisfactory.

However, something could happen during Love and Thunder that leads to T'Challa's death. For example, the villainous Gorr instigates some destructive event that hits Wakanda... and Wakanda Forever opens with T'Challa's funeral. This would be a better flow or segue. The audience has been primed in advance for some disaster in Wakanda. And T'Challa's funeral is the result as we begin the film.

 

[Joe Wong]

You're right. They could. But since they don't have another new new movie on the schedule between Love and Thunder and Wakanda Forever, they would be passing up the opportunity to put the trailer with one of their own films. I think part of the reason it was OK to wait so long to drop anything for Love and Thunder is because they knew that everybody going to Multiverse of Madness would see it.

But, again, Marvel knows they are following up one of their biggest hits here with a huge built-in fanbase. I don't think they need to do a really long marketing campaign. As long as the movie looks good, people are going to show up.

On the other hand, they did debut the trailer for Avatar: The Way of Water with Multiverse of Madness without dropping it online first. I wouldn't say it is likely that Disney will do this again, but it doesn't strike me as impossible. I do have to say it would be a fun surprise to go into Love and Thunder and have the Wakanda Forever trailer just show up unannounced.

The other possibility, however remote, is that they haven't started promoting Wakanda Forever yet because we need to see something in Love and Thunder first. I don't think this is very likely because Thor and Black Panther have usually occupied different corners of the MCU. The only times they crossed paths were when Thor came late to the Wakanda battle in the climax of Infinity War, and of course the Endgame final battle where everyone is involved. So it certainly seems like these two specific films are separate projects. But it isn't impossible that there could be a connection.

For sure - agreed. I only mention August 22 as the date at which it will match the MCU record for shortest window between the 1st trailer and the release date. Though it's sometimes difficult to decipher the decisions made by the marketing department!

As I mention in my previous post in this thread (about explaining T'Challa's death), I am giving some weight to the possibility you mentioned which I highlighted in bold.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

My guess is simply that it’s about saving money they don’t otherwise need to spend. Putting out the trailer now and starting the ad campaign now costs money. There’s no lack of brand awareness among their target audience - Marvel fans know the character and generally know a sequel is coming. Marvel is in a position where they don’t need to bring the big guns out yet. Maybe this is just part of the way of spending a few million less to promote it.

Audiences might need a little bit of a nudge to get back into an Avatar mindset, but i think for something like Black Panther or Thor they just need to remind people to start thinking of it a few weeks to a couple months beforehand at most.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Audiences might need a little bit of a nudge to get back into an Avatar mindset, but i think for something like Black Panther or Thor they just need to remind people to start thinking of it a few weeks to a couple months beforehand at most.

I agree with that totally. The only reason I think it's odd is because of the lack of movies coming from Disney for the next few months. We know that they generally like to debut trailers in front of their own blockbusters, and there is no new release movie for them between Thor and Black Panther at all. Only the reissue of Avatar.

 

[Chris Will]

I love that @Joe Wong used a spoiler tag for Alien 3.

 

[Joe Wong]

I love that @Joe Wong used a spoiler tag for Alien 3.

I originally posted it without a spoiler tag, but then decided this was too critical a reveal for those who have seen Aliens but not Alien3. So I edited it to add the tag.

 

[Jake Lipson]

However, something could happen during Love and Thunder that leads to T'Challa's death.

With Love and Thunder now out, we know this is not the case. There is nothing in it that has anything to do with T'Challa or Wakanda. They exist in two different parts of the MCU, so this is not particularly surprising.

I think @Josh Steinberg got it right.

My guess is simply that it’s about saving money they don’t otherwise need to spend.

The rest of us are probably overanalyzing.

Black Panther was so universally acclaimed and successful that the sequel will be huge no matter when they put out the trailer.

Although Disney doesn't have another movie soon to attach it to, they do have both Comic-Con and D23 coming up, so they'll probably debut something at either one of those events.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Daniel Kaluuya (W’Kabi) will not be appearing in Wakanda Forever due to scheduling conflicts with Nope.

Daniel Kaluuya Won’t Reprise Role As W’Kabi In ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’

Daniel Kaluuya won’t reprise his Black Panther role in Disney and Marvel’s anticipated sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Deadline can confirm. The Oscar winner exited the project d…

deadline.com

Given that production wrapped back in March, I'm a little surprised it took until today for this news to break. Kaluuya is a great actor and is always an asset to any film he appears in. It is too bad that he wasn't available.