Josh Reviews Eyes of Wakanda
Soon after watching Marvel Zombies, I caught up with another 4-episode Marvel animated series from last year: Eyes of Wakanda!
This four-episode anthology series presents us with four stories of Wakandan “War Dogs” on dangerous missions at different points in history: defeating a rogue pirate warlord in 1260 BC, infiltrating Troy during the Trojan War, recovering a religious artifact from K’un-Lun in 1400, and assisting a time-traveler in 1896 during the Battle of Adwa between Ethiopians and Italians. The series was created by Todd Harris and developed by Ryan Coogler.
I’m not sure why I didn’t watch this when it was released this past summer. I think it was a combination of a few factors. While I think Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was probably the best movie that could have been made in light of the awful tragedy of Chadwick Boseman’s death, looking back on that movie, it didn’t leave me super-eager to return to Wakanda. Plus, I wasn’t sure how “important” the stories in this anthology series would be, or how connected to the wider MCU. And from the glimpses I’d seen in trailers, I wasn’t sure I’d like the animation style. So while I’d never decided NOT to watch the show, I just never got around to it.
Well, I’m very glad that I finally did, because like Marvel Zombies, I thought this was terrific! Is it essential viewing to follow the MCU? I don’t think so. But like Marvel Zombies, it’s exactly what I think these Disney+ TV shows should be — fun, interesting, well-crafted explorations of corners of the Marvel Universe that wouldn’t make it into the big-budget feature films.
I enjoyed all four of these stories. They stand alone — this is a true anthology; unlike in What If…?, there’s no attempt to tie the stories all together at the end. However, there are themes, and even some characters, that connect the stories into a larger tapestry. I like this approach! I think it’s the right balance.
The challenge of an anthology show is being able to develop new characters and settings in each episode in a way that will grip the audience even though we’re just meeting these new faces. This show succeeds in that task admirably. I found myself moved by several of these stories. They achieved some real emotional depth! And the characters were terrific. I really loved all of the new heroes we meet across this series. I think every one of the main characters in these four episodes could easily have been the leads of their own series! I really enjoyed every one of them, and I’d love to see more of them all. This is an impressive achievement.
I also liked how the series was able to play around with tone from episode to episode. So, for example, we move from the big emotions of the Wakandan Memnon’s betrayal of his friend Achilles in episode two to the more playful romp of overconfident Basha’s funning afoul of the Iron Fist in episode three. I like the change of pace from episode to episode, in a way that still allows the four stories to fit together comfortably as a whole.
While I wrote above that I had some concerns going in about the animation style, within just a few minutes of the first episode I decided that I loved this animation. I really dug the look of the character designs. The characters were stylized in a more “cartoony” way than the more realistic approach taken in What If…? and Marvel Zombies, but I really liked the way the characters looked, and how memorably distinct all the different Wakandan heroes we met across these episodes looked. Despite the stylized approach to the design, there was still a gorgeous amount of detail worked into the characters, props, and backgrounds. I especially loved the more abstract, watercolor-looking backgrounds and landscapes and cloudscapes. Really beautiful stuff.
There’s nothing shockingly revelatory about Wakanda or its history that we learn, but I enjoyed the way the show deepened our understanding of Wakandan culture and history. For example, I knew from the Black Panther movies that Wakandan technology was far more advanced than that of the outside world, but I didn’t realize, for example, that the Wakandans had flying airships back in the 1400’s! Wow! It was interesting to dig into the tradition of the “War Dogs”, the Wakandans sent out, undercover, into the outside world.
Shall we dive in deeper?
Episode 1: “Into the Lion’s Den” — We meet Noni, a former Dora Milaje who was too resistant to authority to make it within the Dora; but her outsider status makes her the perfect choice to track down a Wakandan leader who has gone rogue and is using Wakandan tech to become a pirate conquerer. This was a great start to this series. Noni is a fantastic character — headstrong and brave. I’d love to see more stories about her! She could easily have anchored an entire show herself. I like the way this episode establishes the threat that Wakandan technology could be, in the wrong hands.
Episode 2: “Legends and Lies” — The show really kicked into high gear with this excellent second episode, set during the Trojan War. Memnon is a Wakandan trying to get into Troy to recover a Wakandan artifact. To do so, he has spent years as a member of the Myrmidons, Achille’s elite fighting force. Memnon and Achilles have become close, almost brothers. I loved how well this episode developed a difficult moral dilemma for Memonon — will he betray Achilles in the end, in order to complete his mission for Wakanda? Watching the episode, I also found myself wondering whether the show would paint the Greeks as heroes and the Trojans as villains. It begins that way, because the two “heroes” of the episode, Memnon and Achilles, are fighting for the Greeks. But I was pleased that as the episode developed we got to see more nuance. And I was riveted by Memnon’s dilemma and his final scenes with Achilles. This was great, emotional stuff, and the show didn’t dodge the difficult choice Memnon had to make, and the repercussions that followed.
Episode 3: “Lost and Found” — I was delighted to see an Iron Fist enter the “official” MCU!! (We did, of course, get a mediocre Iron Fist TV show during the Marvel Netflix days, but this was the first official Iron Fist appearance in the MCU proper.) Although Danny Rand is the classic modern version of the Iron Fist character, the comic books have told many cool stories about Iron Fists throughout history (Ed Brubaker & Matt Fraction’s run on Iron Fist is an excellent example of this!), and I thought it was a fun choice to give us a kick-ass female Iron Fist from the 1400’s! And I loved getting to actually see (briefly) the mystical city of K’un-Lun! I also really liked the pairing of the two Wakandan friends/colleagues; the overconfident field agent Basha, and his back-at-headquarters pal Ebo.
Episode 4: “The Last Panther” — The series wraps up strongly with this story set in 1896. Veteran field agent Kuda and his mentee, the young Wakandan Prince Tafari, are in the middle of a war-zone, tasked with retrieving a vibranium artifact. Prince Tafari is resistant to following the cautious Kuda’s orders; Tafari is too focused on making a name for himself. Their mission is knocked off-course when a Wakandan time-traveler from the future arrives, insisting they must NOT return the artifact to Wakanda. It turns out that artifact needs to stay out in the world, so that Killmonger will find it in the first Black Panther movie, and set King T’Challa on a path to finally embrace the outside world. If that doesn’t happen, the Wakandans will stay hidden within their borders and, several hundreds of years in the future, a divided Earth will be destroyed by alien invaders. I liked this time travel story — it was fun to get a look at future Wakandans — and I LOVED the connection to how we first meet Killmonger in the Black Panther movie. I liked the Kuda-Tafari pair, and I also quite liked the heroic Last Queen of Wakanda.
I’m glad I watched this show! I’d love to see more seasons, either telling completely new stories set in different periods of Wakandan history, or follow-ups to give us further adventures of the characters we met here. If, like me, you missed this series, it’s worth checking out.
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