Black Panther: Wakanda Forever‘s 2025 sequel is an MCU gem that I genuinely recommend to fans of the Marvel movies and wider world – and one I’m hoping people will give a chance even though it’s one of the franchise’s more unconventional stories. Black Panther‘s release was a game-changer for the MCU, and not just because it made over $1 billion.

Black Panther and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever both provide in-depth looks at the MCU timeline and its version of Wakanda, as well as at some of the franchise’s most endearing heroes, thanks to the stories of T’Challa and Shuri. As it stands, 2025’s Black Panther 2 sequel follows up on these stories while also covering a lot of other ground.

Black Panther 2’s 2025 Sequel Is A Fascinating Look At Hundreds Of Years Of MCU History

All at once, Eyes of Wakanda manages to be an action thriller, a sci-fi epic, a historical drama, and a look into over a thousand years of the MCU’s history. While, as you might imagine, this means it has to balance a lot of plates all at once, the show proves capable of doing it all and then some.

Initially, I found myself hooked on the historical action of Eyes of Wakanda episode 1, and its stylish animation. The story proved immediately interesting in the sense that it provides a look at the backdrop of Wakanda’s history and how it managed to maintain secrecy for such a long time in the MCU’s world, helping tie the franchise closer together.

However, each episode provides something a little different, meaning you’ve had a far more varied journey by the end of its two-hour run. This is particularly true when it comes to the Eyes of Wakanda ending, which sees around 500 years of Earth’s history be rewritten thanks to its time-travel shenanigans – including the modern-day MCU.

Ultimately, the Black Panther spinoff works on two levels. For fans who want to delve into the intricacies of the MCU and its lore, Eyes of Wakanda has that and more – but it also works as some good old-fashioned action, drama and spectacle as well, even if you aren’t invested in what all this means for the bigger picture.

Eyes Of Wakanda Makes The Black Panther Movies Even More Interesting

The 2025 Black Panther spinoff is most engaging for the fact that it reveals a lot more about the MCU and its overarching story than it seemed like it perhaps would beforehand. This is largely in relation to Wakanda and its history, though notably, this isn’t the only topic it delves into.

In terms of linking to the MCU’s Black Panther movie history, Eyes of Wakanda fleshes out the history of the Dora Milaje, as well as cementing Wakanda’s “War Dogs” – people go undercover in the outside world without ever revealing Wakanda’s presence. Naturally, these stories help explain how Wakanda was able to go incognito for so long.

Of course, though, the most important of these comes in the Eyes of Wakanda finale. The ending of the show reveals that a Black Panther from around 2396 comes back to 1896 to change the dystopian future timeline – and successfully does so, seemingly ensuring the events we see in Black Panther and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever take place.

First and foremost, this is interesting in terms of showing us some of the previously unseen trials other heroes underwent to ensure the MCU timeline as we know it takes place. However, it also reiterates how important Shuri’s present-day Black Panther story is, since we get to physically see how much had to happen to get to this point.

Eyes Of Wakanda Proves The Potential Of Canon Animated MCU Releases

Up until now, the MCU’s animated releases have almost entirely been based in alternate universes. What If…? is famously all based around alternate universes, and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is similarly focused on an alternate universe, much like how X-Men ’97 is an extension of the X-Men: The Animated Series universe.

Only I Am Groot has really had chance to show what an animated release in the actual main MCU timeline is like – and while Groot’s show adventures are charming, they delve far less into the broader world of the MCU. With all this in mind, it’s fascinating to see how Eyes of Wakanda shows us what we’ve been missing.

Currently, it’s more than understandable that the MCU keeps its focus on the world of live-action releases. However, allowing animated releases to delve into more fantastical concepts that might otherwise be too expensive to pull off – like a centuries-long look at a secret spy organization and its impact on the world – certainly makes a lot of sense.

With the MCU heading into some of its biggest upcoming releases – now Avengers: Doomsday and Spider-Man: Brand New Day‘s story are on the horizon – it doesn’t seem the franchise may have time for these types of releases much in the near future. However, the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever spinoff certainly proves there’d be merit to similar releases down the line.