Eyes of Wakanda Review
Wakanda, AKA the single greatest nation to exist in the MCU. First mentioned in Age of Ultron, debuting in Civil War, and finally introduced in Black Panther, Wakanda is one of the coolest aspects of the MCU. It’s basically what would happen if Africa had a chance to breathe for a few centuries without worry. And while the Black Panther themselves are the most recognizable thing to come out of Wakanda, there are other parts to its culture. As Black Panther itself established, the eyes of Wakanda are everywhere. Naturally, this would make for a great premise for a miniseries, and after seven years of waiting, we finally got one.
Its name? Eyes of Wakanda, of course.
History of Wakanda from the Shadows
The brainchild of Marvel Studios storyboard artist Todd Harris, Eyes of Wakanda is an anthology series that dives into the history of the War Dogs. They’re the spies of Wakanda, serving as their agents across the world, recovering artifacts and eliminating threats abroad. And, as the miniseries demonstrates, this is a role that they have had for most of recorded history. And as the miniseries demonstrates, there’s a reason why Wakanda was able to remain secure until the present day. A large part of it is because of the Black Panther, but an unspoken part is because the War Dogs are just that good.
Killmonger was not joking when he said that Wakanda had the power to rule the world if they wanted. They’ve had that power for most of recorded history. While the Greeks and Trojans were fighting with swords and spears, the Wakandans already had power gauntlets and wireless communicators! While Da Vinci was dreaming of flying machines, the Wakandans already had them flying from China back to Africa. Is it any wonder why they chose to close themselves off from the world? If someone got their hands on their tech, they could’ve destroyed the world…or united it.
One of the biggest themes about the original Black Panther is whether Wakanda had the right to close itself off from the world when it had the power to save it. Ultimately, T’Challa realizes that their isolationism created people like Killmonger, and sought to change that. However, as Eyes of Wakanda reveals, he wasn’t the first to realize this. As the episodes continue, the POV characters begin to realize that there is merit in opening themselves up to others. That there are people on the outside that can be trusted. And more importantly, we see how the need to keep Wakanda a secret can have very negative consequences.
Wakanda’s Destructive Isolationism
It starts off in the second episode in the middle of the Trojan War. In the MCU, it’s revealed one of the men who fought in that mythical war was a War Dog, trying to recover a stolen Wakandan gem. In doing so, though, he ends up making an enemy out of his Greek ally, someone who he genuinely saw as a friend. I won’t say who it is, but if you know Greek Mythology, you know it doesn’t have a happy ending.
Things come to a head in the final episode, where a mission that connects directly to Black Panther takes on a new level of importance. That mission starkly demonstrates how Wakanda’s decision to remain closed off will ultimately doom not only itself, but the entire world. That leads to the War Dogs on that mission choosing to purposefully fail it, as it will lead to the events of Black Panther. It’s a very clever way to tie in to the film that started this whole Wakandan mania.
But beyond that, how does Eyes of Wakanda hold up as an anthology series? It…could’ve had better pacing.
This Show Should’ve Had More Time
I’ve been a history geek since I was a kid; I even made history my major in college. And one thing that becomes clear to students of history is that most things that happen anywhere are interconnected. The end of one conflict can lay the groundwork for another. The decisions of a small group of people can affect the entire world. And as Eyes of Wakanda demonstrates, the impact of one relatively minor event can have a butterfly effect. That being said, there’s one thing about the series that, after watching it, can feel pretty jarring: its pacing.
The show itself is fine in regards to pacing. It’s the way that it jumps around history that’s the problem. The first episode takes place in the 13th century BC. The second episode jumps a few decades to the Trojan War. However, the third episode proceeds to jump all the way to China in the 1500s. That’s a 2,700 year time-skip which we know nothing about! While we know what happens in actual history in that time, we don’t know anything about how Wakanda factors into it. That’s pretty jarring, and it gives me the feeling that the series was meant to be longer than four episodes.
Maybe Disney thought that the miniseries didn’t need more than four episodes, but that might have been a mistake. Since it joined the MCU, Wakanda has been one of its strongest aspects. Black Panther is considered a watershed moment in cinema for a reason, and many wouldn’t mind learning more about Wakanda.
I Wish Chadwick Could’ve Been Here
Beyond the pacing issues, though, I feel like Eyes of Wakanda tries to do the best with what it’s given. And as far as the acting goes, it’s pretty solid. Special mention should go to the inclusion of Anika Noni Rose, the voice of Tiana from The Princess and the Frog, as a potential future version of the Black Panther. This show had the potential to be something akin to Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed, but for whatever reason, it never gets enough time to breathe. Which is a darn shame. If Chadwick were still alive, he likely would’ve supported this series, and with his star power, Disney wouldn’t be able to say no.
