Black Panther (Kendrick Lamar song)

Lore & Background

Kendrick Lamar curated and performed on the soundtrack album for the film, working closely with director Ryan Coogler to match the film's themes. He produced a full curated soundtrack album rather than just a few songs, beginning work with producer Sounwave while on tour. Composer Ludwig Göransson collaborated on one of the songs and incorporated elements from the album into the film's score.

Reader's Guide

The soundtrack album Black Panther: The Album was praised by many critics as a milestone for film soundtracks due to its ideas and lyrics, but it was considered by some to be weaker than Lamar's solo work. Coogler felt the album became its own piece of art rather than just a tie-in to the film. The song "King's Dead" from Lamar's album won a Grammy Award. The album was released by Interscope Records on February 9, 2018, to large sales, including the top position on the Billboard 200 chart.

Did You Know?

• Kendrick Lamar decided to produce a full curated soundtrack album rather than just the few songs requested by Coogler.
• Composer Ludwig Göransson worked on one of the songs and included elements from the album in the score.
• The song "King's Dead" by Jay Rock featuring Kendrick Lamar, Future, and James Blake, from the Black Panther soundtrack, won a Grammy Award.

Production & the Shadow of Loss

The road to Wakanda Forever began almost immediately after the original Black Panther hit theaters in February 2018, with Ryan Coogler negotiating his return as director within months. Marvel Studios officially greenlit the sequel in mid-2019, and Coogler partnered with Joe Robert Cole on the screenplay. However, the project's emotional and creative trajectory was irrevocably altered in August 2020, when Chadwick Boseman, the actor who had embodied King T'Challa, passed away from colon cancer. Rather than recast the role, Marvel made the deliberate choice to honor his absence, reshaping the narrative around Shuri's grief and ascension. The remaining principal cast—Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, Florence Kasumba, Dominique Thorne, Michaela Coel, Mabel Cadena, Tenoch Huerta Mejía, Martin Freeman, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Angela Bassett—were confirmed for their return by November 2020. Principal photography stretched across multiple locations: Atlanta's Trilith and Tyler Perry Studios from late June 2021, Massachusetts in August, and Puerto Rico in late March 2022. A November halt allowed Letitia Wright to recover from a filming injury before production resumed in January.

Grief, Vengeance, and the Mantle

The story opens in the raw aftermath of King T'Challa's death from a terminal illness, a loss Shuri cannot heal despite her attempts to synthetically recreate the heart-shaped herb. A year later, Wakanda finds itself under international pressure to surrender its vibranium, while beneath the Atlantic, the ancient underwater nation of Talokan—led by the blue-skinned, water-breathing Namor—emerges in fury over what it perceives as centuries of surface-world oppression. Namor issues an ultimatum to Queen Ramonda, and the escalating conflict ultimately costs Ramonda her life when she drowns protecting a civilian. It is only after this second devastating loss that Shuri finally reconstructs the herb, ingests it, and steps into the Ancestral Plane, where the spirit of Killmonger tests whether she will rule with vengeance or honor. She chooses a path that honors both: she defeats Namor in combat but, guided by a vision of her mother, offers him peace. In the film's closing beats, Shuri plants new heart-shaped herbs to secure the mantle's future, and a mid-credits revelation—T'Challa and Nakia's secret son, named Toussaint—plants the seed for the next generation.

Box Office Triumph and Critical Acclaim

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever premiered at the El Capitan Theatre and the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on October 26, 2022, before its wide U.S. release on November 11 as the capstone of the MCU's Phase Four. Critics responded with generally favorable reviews, and audiences rewarded the film with $859.2 million in worldwide box-office receipts, making it the sixth-highest-grossing release of that year. The film's recognition extended well beyond the screen: it accumulated five Academy Award nominations, taking home the prize for Costume Design. Its awards haul also included one British Academy Film Award, six Critics' Choice Movie Awards (winning two), two Golden Globe nominations (winning one), and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Angela Bassett, portraying Queen Ramonda, was singled out across multiple ceremonies for a performance that carried the film's emotional weight. The ensemble cast—spanning Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, Dominique Thorne, Michaela Coel, Tenoch Huerta Mejía, and others—collectively anchored a narrative that balanced spectacle with intimate family drama, a combination that resonated with both critics and general audiences alike.

Expanding the Wakandan Universe

As the thirtieth installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Wakanda Forever did not merely close a chapter but actively seeded the next several. The most immediate spin-off is Ironheart, a miniseries centered on Dominique Thorne's Riri Williams—the MIT student who builds a powered exoskeleton to aid Wakanda in the film—which premiered in June 2025. Looking further ahead, a direct sequel to Wakanda Forever is already scheduled for a December 2028 release, ensuring the story of Shuri's reign and the evolving relationship between Wakanda and Talokan will continue. Within the film itself, the narrative groundwork for future installments is laid: M'Baku openly challenges for the throne during Shuri's absence, the Midnight Angel armor and the Dora Milaje's reorganization under Ayo signal shifting power dynamics, and the revelation of Toussaint, T'Challa's hidden son, introduces a new character with a direct claim to the legacy. By planting more heart-shaped herbs and securing the Black Panther mantle for generations to come, the film positions Wakanda not as a story concluded but as a living, expanding world within the broader MCU.