If you asked me back in August what movie I was most excited about, I wouldn’t hesitate to say the new Black Panther movie. However, with the recent release of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, I feel conflicted over whether to see it.
On one hand, I loved the first movie. It was invigorating to see a movie focusing on Black people that didn’t focus on racial struggle or trauma and to have an African society depicted as high-tech and sophisticated. The first Black Panther movie went against everything that Hollywood deemed as “Black” and the overwhelming focus on trauma in Black stories. As a black woman, it was refreshing to have a movie treat our community with respect and care. Black Panther also became a rallying movie for the Black community because of the clear positivity and love that was put into the development of the movie. Also, T’Challa and Shuri are badasses, which automatically made the movie great.
On the other hand, the same amount of care that made the community fall in love with the first movie was not put into the second one, at least promotion-wise. When Black Panther: Wakanda Forever hosted its premiere, there was a notable absence of black women influencers among the other invited influencers present.
While popular Black TikToker StrawHatGoofy was present and other white creators were invited, black female creators weren’t. Nique Marina, one of the most popular Marvel TikTokers, was outspoken about her lack of invite to the premiere and called out the producers for not inviting Black women creators. Due to public outrage on TikTok and Twitter, TikToker Amanda Castrillo was invited hours before the New York premiere. She later posted that she was just happy to be invited in the end, but why is it that a movie that focuses on the stories of Black women neglected to invite Black women to their premiere?
Are our stories and struggles simply a narrative for Hollywood to use and then toss us to the side once the script is done? Do we not get to see the benefit of our work or our journeys? Why is it that other creators get to walk down the red carpet and Black women—the same community that the main characters represent and voice—must cause public outrage before one of us is invited?
I was excited about this movie, but this lack of respect has turned me off. I will not be watching this movie and while this may seem silly or an overreaction to others, watching it would feel like a betrayal to me.