After taking on box offices—and winning hearts—in the autumn, Black Panther: Wakanda Perpetually will finally be available to stream on Disney+ starting February 1.
The highly successful sequel to 2018’s Black Panther hit theaters November 11 and has since grossed over $821 million, per Deadline. It even set a recent record for a November film opening in North America. And shortly, it’ll reach much more audiences (and theatergoers hoping to re-watch) because it begins streaming online.
From director Ryan Coogler, Wakanda Perpetually centers on Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Princess Shuri (Letitia Wright), M’Baku (Winston Duke), Okoye (Danai Gurira), the Dora Milaje, and the titular kingdom because the aforementioned grapple with the lack of King T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) and protect their home from outside threats. The latter includes the sea-dwelling people of Talokan ruled by the mutant Namor (Tenoch Huerta), who makes his debut within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Other newcomers within the film include warrior Aneka (Michaela Coel) and inventor Riri Williams/Ironheart (Dominique Thorne).
Other than introducing recent characters, visually stimulating the audience, and critiquing colonialism, Wakanda Perpetually is, at its heart, a story about grief—each onscreen and off. Just because the characters honored T’Challa’s legacy, the solid and crew celebrated and remembered Boseman, who died from colon cancer in 2020.
“Within the moments that we’ve joy, I just sense him kicking back, laughing with God, like, ‘Wow, have a look at my sisters,’” Wright told ELLE UK. “We took all of the love that we had for him and we put it into the film.”
The announcement of Wakanda Perpetually’s streaming date arrives just in time for awards season. Bassett and Rihanna, who provided two original songs for the film, are nominated for Golden Globes, while other acknowledgements proceed to pour in. And if it happens to choose up any Oscar nominations at the tip of January (you never know), viewers can catch it on Disney+ before the ceremony in March.
Watch Black Panther: Wakanda Perpetually
Erica Gonzales is the Senior Culture Editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage on TV, movies, music, books, and more. She was previously an editor at HarpersBAZAAR.com. There may be a 75 percent probability she’s listening to Lorde at once.
