Intent

Following the death of actor Chadwick Boseman, director Ryan Coogler had a large task on his hands as he wrote a new plot for the Black Panther sequel Wakanda Forever. He ended on a story that reflected the interactions of technology and culture, focusing on how vibranium influenced Wakanda's development by contrasting it with another civilization with access to the resource: the underwater Aztec-inspired Talokan. One of the key intended takeaways for the audience in the first film is the power of vibranium, despite its "loosely defined" existence. It is the source of Wakanda's energy, infrastructure, and technology, making it integral to the culture. [1] With this powerful resource established, Coogler utilized the second film to better explore how such a material may have allowed existing African culture and history to develop into a futuristic state: an idea coined Afro-futurism. This re-imagining of how advanced technologies could have impacted and developed real African culture shines through Wakanda's implementations: the designs, colors, and usages. It is this concept that makes Wakanda unique from other futuristic societies seen through film, and keeps it rooted to something belieable. [2] PERCEPTION, a virtual effects company contracted by Coogler to work on the film noted how this vision influenced their designs. Aiming to incorporate the lore and culture of Wakanda into their technology, and how this technology may have advanced from the first film, PERCPETION made much of the technology present in the film light-based. They also focused on making it as smart as possible: incorporating gesture-based interaction with this technology and showcasing the unique personality of Shuri's AI assistant Griot. This allowed for more intricate and sophisticated designs while also showcasing just how advanced these technologies are. [3] This co-development of technology and culture is not unique to Wakanda in the film, however. Production designer Hannah Beachler would make a point to consider how the Aztecian history of the Talokans would have evolved after relocating underwater, aimin to balance the real aspects of history with the fictional senario of creating a city underwater. This influenced how Talokan as a city appears, what the Talokanils wear, and how their technology is designed and used. [4] Despite both having access to the same extremely powerful resource, the differences in the root cultures and histories of Wakanda and Talokan caused them to develop down two distinct paths. Through this comparison, Ryan Coogler successfully highlights how technology and culture interact, reflect, and build off of one another.