Once again, Marvel Animation is showcasing the fact that it’s been saving the MCU’s ass for years. A little over 2 ½ years after the Black Panther prequel show was announced, we finally get a sneak peek at how beautiful Eyes of Wakanda will be when the four-episode series premieres on Disney+ on August 27. As dazzling as the stylistic choices are, however, they don’t stop us from focusing on a question that has yet to be answered: Will we see Black Panther in the show?
The upcoming series—which its showrunner Todd Harris told Entertainment Weekly is “anthology adjacent”—will consist of short stories told at different periods of time as part of one overarching narrative. The series will involve a story centered around stolen vibranium artifacts and the precarious quest of Wakandan warriors to find them. The wondrous sneak peek from Marvel, published on YouTube earlier today, gives us a small taste of mystical powers, war-like conditions, and, of course, the fierce Dora Milaje (who should have their own show and video game), while a narrator hints at Wakanda’s many secrets. Since the show is bouncing around the 10,000-year history of Wakanda, surely the Black Panther will make an appearance.
In MCU lore, the mantle of Black Panther came from a warrior shaman who was led to the Heart-Shaped Herb—which grants supernatural powers—by a vision. A Black Panther has existed since the early ages of Wakanda. It would be hard to imagine someone stealing vibranium artifacts and Wakanda’s protector not being involved in returning the precious items. To be fair, there have yet to be any casting announcements for the role of Black Panther, and Harris has made no mention of the supreme fighter’s involvement in the story he’s trying to tell. He has, however, been pretty clear about the questions and themes he wants the show to explore as it leaps throughout millennia of Wakandan history.
“What kind of fortitude, what kind of lack of temptation to overexpand?” he said. “All these different things to keep things from imploding, all these different things that have been the detriment to a lot of history… how did they avoid that and what kind of person does that make? What kind of rock-solid principles keep them on the straight and narrow—that balance that’s so hard for everyone alive?”
Whether Wakanda’s mightiest warrior appears in the show or not, Harris is focused on the history of the fictional African country being fleshed out in all its complex glory.
