EYES OF WAKANDA. Marvel’s Shallows [TV SERIES REVIEW]

After the huge success of Black Panther, which thrilled audiences and critics alike and competed for the Best Picture Oscar at the 2019 Academy Awards, Marvel and the film’s creator Ryan Coogler have been trying over and over again to replicate that success. Unfortunately, they failed both with the tragically flawed sequel—marred by Chadwick Boseman’s death—and the ultimately absurdly impossible spin-off series (Ironheart). The latest animated anthology, Eyes of Wakanda, also did not succeed.

Divided into four half-hour episodes, the format focuses on the so-called “Dogs of War,” Wakanda’s envoys sent to the outside world to defend the values, security, and inviolability of the borders of this African nation.

In the first episode, we travel back to the 2nd century BCE and follow a former member of the warrior group known as the Dora Milaje, whose mission is to recover stolen Wakandan goods from a self-proclaimed conquistador and fugitive citizen of the state known as the Lion. In the second episode, we witness the course of the mythical Trojan War and see how Wakanda’s envoy becomes entangled in the fates of heroes known from Homer’s epics—such as Achilles and Odysseus—at the crucial moment of accepting the iconic Trojan horse. In the third episode, a conflict arises between Wakanda and the legendary Golden City, where one of the Dogs of War confronts Iron Fist—who is bound to him by a forbidden love despite conflicting interests.

In the final episode, we watch as one of Wakanda’s queen’s sons meets a traveler from the future—the last Panther—who sets out to save the Wakandan kingdom from eternal destruction before it happens. And although these episode summaries can certainly sound intriguing, each installment of the series suffers from similar problems…

First of all, the episodes are under thirty minutes long, making it difficult to fully immerse in the atmosphere, characters, and story. Even the most interesting concepts—like Wakandan citizens intertwined in humanity’s fate over the centuries, the mythology of Iron Fist (appearing clearly for the first time in a production officially recognized as MCU), or the time-traveling Panther from a distant future—remain superficial without proper depth or execution. Second, the series is unbearably transparent in terms of production quality. There are no visual experiments (for example, why didn’t each episode have its own distinct style matching the time period it portrays, possibly made by different creative teams?).

The powerful soundtrack known from Black Panther films is missing, and the voice actors perform adequately but never beyond that. Third, it’s hard to identify the intended audience of the series. Marvel universe fans or those focused on Wakanda won’t find significant development here, yet the content is definitely not aimed at younger viewers of pop culture (despite the animation format suggesting otherwise). Finally, the placement of this production in Marvel’s release schedule is puzzling.

It should be a kind of appetizer—like Animatrix, Batman: Gotham Knight, or Predator: Killer of Killers—to whet appetites before the upcoming (so far uncertain and semi-official) third Black Panther movie, not something quietly dropped in the middle of summer, just a week after the release of The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

Ryan Coogler—the creator of this year’s Sinners—wrote and directed one of Marvel’s best titles seven years ago. Since then, he’s struggled (sometimes as director, other times as producer) with Wakanda-related stories but without artistic success. Hopefully, the next Black Panther (rumored to star Denzel Washington!) will break this impasse. Eyes of Wakanda did not succeed.