Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Tagline: "I will no longer rule out of fear. Not ours or anyone else's."

Wakanda Forever is an easy edit: a good film made a little better. An enjoyable change of pace after overhauling "Iron Man 2 - At the Core of It" and continuing work on "Hulk - Daddy Issues". This is such a light edit by comparison, that I debated whether it warrants an IFDB listing. After watching it with the kids, I realize that, yes these few changes do really make the film more enjoyable. So here it is.
And yes, my family is also on a Marvel binge in the run up to Endgame. That's the reason my edits have been so Marvel heavy: the kids are watching these movies for the first time, and I want them to see the best versions!

For this Black Panther edit, my goals and changes are:

1) Trim visually distracting shots because they pull me out of the movie. Several CGI shots look like we switched from the film to a computer game. I find that terribly distracting. Trimming these requires only minimal cuts.
- Cut most of T'Challa's flashback from Cap3 (redundant and distracting visual filter).
- Remove bad CGI: small trim to rhinos in battle.
- Remove bad CGI: several small trims in final cave fight.

2) Raise the emotional stakes at the start.
- Integrate part of flashback of T'Chaka killing his brother into beginning. Cut part of later Zuri exposition to T'Challa accordingly.
- Insert deleted scene before Marvel logo: young T'Challa talks with dad. Having these scenes back to back, as they would have been intended, works really well. We get young Erik left behind alone in Oakland contrasted with young T'Challa raised lovingly in safe and comfortable Wakanda.

3) Bring more gravitas to the ending.
- Insert deleted scene: part of T'Challa - Ross conversation at UN (it includes this edit's tagline).
- Move UN before Oakland scene. No mid-credit scene.

4) Minor pacing tweak:
- Small trim in Ross wake-up dialog with Shuri.

Edit runtime: 136 (cut 1 minute, added 3)

These sound like subtle but very effective trims. Definitely hoping you release it, particularly after how enjoyable your IM2 edit was!

Is there any way to remove the subplot about T'Chaka's killing of  N'Jobu being covered up and being viewed as a scandal once it's uncovered? It was a justified killing that shouldn't have been viewed as scandalous. N'Jobu had committed the same crime as Klaue (stealing vibranium), providing just cause for T'Chaka to try to arrest him, and he tried to kill Zuri during the arrest attempt, making the killing fully justified. There was no reason for a cover-up, nor any reason for anyone to be indignant once the truth was revealed. 

Maybe the movie could be edited so that everyone already knew about the killing, but didn't know that N'Jobu had a son.

The cover-up is downplayed, in so far as we the audience see the kill in the beginning instead of having to wait for Zuri's story later on.

The average Wakandan still doesn't know, but I think that works fine. Just because the king was justified in killing his brother, doesn't mean Wakandans might not resent him for it. "Was it really the only way?" "Why didn't he step in front of the bullet with his vibranium suit and then disarm Prince N'Jobu?" "I've heard that N'Jobu was going to challenge T'Chaka at the next ritual."

I find it plausible that T'Chaka would want no publicity about him killing his brother. Whether that was the smartest solution is another matter.

Looking forward to this edit!Black Panther's only bad quality was its terrible CGI and I can't wait to see the end result with most of it being trimmed down

The edit has one (soft-coded) subtitle track. It includes all English dialog and translations of non-English dialog.

Are there viewers who prefer to have a separate subtitle track that just has translations of non-English dialog?

If yes, I could add a second subtitle track. But if no one is bothered by seeing the English on screen too, then I'll save myself the extra work.

lapis molari said:

The edit has one (soft-coded) subtitle track. It includes all English dialog and translations of non-English dialog.

Are there viewers who prefer to have a separate subtitle track that just has translations of non-English dialog?

If yes, I could add a second subtitle track. But if no one is bothered by seeing the English on screen too, then I'll save myself the extra work.

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My preference would be a separate track for just the non English parts. That said, the edit is superb and highly recommended

This sounds super interesting!

As a moderate fan of the original release, I'd love to see where you went with this.

@"boazz750" , thanks for your feedback.

I agree Black Panther and Killmonger falling into the mine has an obvious transition now. I tried many options of cutting out their mid-air fight scene that felt waaaay too much like a computer game. I tried lots of trims, down to increasing the cut by single frames on both sides to find the least jarring transition. The result is what I find to be the smoothest transition for both video and audio.
The mid-air CGI fight was just too distracting for me. The noticeable transition is the lesser evil in this case.

The left part is no working for me, I feel like the quotation should be inserted in the front cover. All in all, I like the design is just that the heavy text is not my kind of thing.

Update on this, Lapis?  
For my 2-cents (and I realize I liked BP far less than most people), the biggest sore points are actually plot-centered.  I'd actually like to see a much heavier FanFix edit that restructures some elements that ruined my suspension of disbelief.

1. Killmonger's whole "plan" seems incredibly, needlessly elaborate.  What is the point of him masquerading as a hired robber for Klaw?  The end game is that he needs to bring Klaw's head in to Wakanda to show that he could do what BP couldn't.  He doesn't need him alive and shows no hesitation about killing him when it comes to their final confrontation anyway.  It should be a simple= Gain Klaw's trust->kill him->show Wakanda.  I have no idea how to restructure this to make sense without basically cutting out huge parts of the film, but maybe someone is brighter than me?

2. W'Kabi's entire character arc is unbelievable.  He is BP's best friend since childhood, but he turns on him (AND his lover) within a matter of days because BP couldn't bring in the criminal that had eluded everyone for DECADES.  Could his role be cut out entirely or at least minimized?

3. How does it make sense for Man-Ape (M'Baku) to give BP the herb rather than take it himself?  After all the animosity he showed him and everything he said, it really doesn't fit.  Is there a way to cut out some lines maybe that would make you believe he has somehow accepted BP as Wakanda's ruler or gained more respect for him?  It's really an abrupt and unexplained turn, and may be impossible to make sense out of, but... 

These are actually just a few of my biggest gripes with the film.  Much more so than previous MCU movies, I found it to be a focus on style rather than plot (yeah, I said it!) and it didn't connect for me.  I actually loved the character's comics growing up, so I'd really appreciate an edit that tries to tighten the narrative of the film.

Sorry I'm late, lapis, but have you considered pruning some of the totally misplaced comedy?

I just noticed the subtitle of the sequel will be Wakanda Forever. Will anything be done about that

@motleycat Enterprises inc , I'm not sure which comedic moments you mean. The style of humor seems pretty consistent to me. Perhaps it's just not to your taste? Anyway, I do revisit my edits for technical improvements, but not for personal preferences.

@Masirimso17 , nice to read you again! We haven't crossed FE paths in a while. I don't think I can persuade Marvel to change their subtitle, so to avoid confusion I could change my subtitle. I'll have to give that some thought. Thanks for pointing it out.

lapis molari said:

@motleycat Enterprises inc , I'm not sure which comedic moments you mean. The style of humor seems pretty consistent to me. Perhaps it's just not to your taste? Anyway, I do revisit my edits for technical improvements, but not for personal preferences.

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For example, the yawn W'Kabi gives out during a pivotal moment near the end. Many feel that it undercuts the emotional gravity of the scene.

This fanedit's title aged well

To avoid confusion between my fanedit of Black Panther 1 and Marvel's upcoming Black Panther 2, I'm looking for a replacement subtitle to my edit. Which do you prefer?

a) Black Panther - The King is Dead, Long Live the King (it would refer to T'Challa's father and to his own seeming death in the fight-off, but I worry that it would read as a reference to Boseman's untimely death).
b) Black Panther - No More Fear (using the tagline of my edit).
c) Black Panther - Wakanda Forever (I used it first, and I'm sticking to it! Funny for a moment, but I don't think this is helpful).
d) Black Panther - Out of the Shadows.
e) [Add your suggestion here.]

lapis molari said:

To avoid confusion between my fanedit of Black Panther 1 and Marvel's upcoming Black Panther 2, I'm looking for a replacement subtitle to my edit. Which do you prefer?

a) Black Panther - The King is Dead, Long Live the King (it would refer to T'Challa's father and to his own seeming death in the fight-off, but I worry that it would read as a reference to Boseman's untimely death).
b) Black Panther - No More Fear (using the tagline of my edit).
c) Black Panther - Wakanda Forever (I used it first, and I'm sticking to it! Funny for a moment, but I don't think this is helpful).
d) Black Panther - Out of the Shadows.
e) [Add your suggestion here.]

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Option B sounds preferable. ☺

lapis molari said:

a) Black Panther - The King is Dead, Long Live the King (it would refer to T'Challa's father and to his own seeming death in the fight-off, but I worry that it would read as a reference to Boseman's untimely death).

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How about just Black Panther: Long Live the King? That way you avoid mentioning death in the title, and at the same time it can still be read as a tribute to Boseman.

Dwight Fry said:

How about just Black Panther: Long Live the King? That way you avoid mentioning death in the title, and at the same time it can still be read as a tribute to Boseman.

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Good thinking, Mr. Fry!