T’Challa’s rule definitely includes a healthy dose of family and rivalry.
Little by little, we’re getting acclimatized to the world of Wakanda with each new trailer as Black Panther nears a release date in February. Marvel just dropped a new TV spot, titled “Rise,” and although there’s a ton of footage we’ve already seen before, we’re getting some context this time too. Watch it below.
“The Black Panther lives!”
Beyond just looking very cool as always, the new TV spot builds on what was revealed in last week’s behind-the-scenes featurette. T’Challa’s (Chadwick Boseman) motivations and enemies are slowly being fleshed out. Besides the expectations placed upon him by citizens of Wakanda, and his duties as king, T’Challa also has a strong, close bond with his sister Shuri (Letitia Wright). They banter and train together in the “Rise” TV spot, and Boseman and Wright’s chemistry is absolutely evident.
By the same token, the villains get a bit of the spotlight too. Both Erik “Killmonger” Stevens (Michael B. Jordan) and Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis) get more dialogue in the new footage, with the former characterized as the more outwardly formidable foe. Killmonger is menacing and demanding of the Wakandans for their technology, while Klaue seems more comfortable being a little more sarcastic and cheeky. Both villains fit a more generic Marvel blueprint so far. They’re taunting T’Challa by questioning his skill level as a warrior as well as his viability as a leader, which is very typical origin story fare. It’s hard to tell if villains will work from trailers alone though, so we’re still holding out hope that these characters will be a match for T’Challa.
The rest of the footage — featuring clips of the Dora Milaje and an even bigger emphasis on the tech advancements of Wakanda — just gets us hyped up over how vibrant and kinetic the movie seems to be. We can hardly wait for February 16 to come.