With the next film from Marvel Studios heading to theaters being Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, it’s only a matter of time until we get our first look at the project. While it may not be a trailer, we did get a new look at some pretty exciting merchandise for the film, which gives us an exciting look at Riri Williams (Dominque Thorne) in her Ironheart suit of armor and the first look at Lupita Nyong’o’s Nakia in the film. Let’s check it out!
[Warning: Potential Spoilers for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever are below]
Fresh looks from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Shirts
In a tweet from TheMCUtimes early this morning, fans got a look at two shirts from the upcoming Marvel Studios film. One shirt features a group shot of the four actresses from the film, while the other features Riri Williams in a full-body look at her Mark 1 armor. Check out the tweet below!
#WakandaForever merch featuring #Ironheart pic.twitter.com/lMmoWXkaBO
— TheMCUtimes (@themcutimes) July 12, 2022
As you can see, the first shirt shows Letitia Wright as Shuri, Lupita Nyong’o as Nakia, Danai Gurira as Okoye, and Dominque Thorne as Riri Williams. Of the four actresses, Gurira’s Okoye looks to have a similar outfit and appearance to the one she had in the first Black Panther. As the head of the Dora Milaje, an elite group of all-female warriors who protect the King of Wakanda, it makes sense that her armor may stay the same. The costumes for the Dora Milaje have remained consistent over each appearance in the MCU.
That being said, it was reported late last year by Lizzie Hill that the Dora Milaji will sport some special enhanced suits in the film as well.
“For starters, some fun but related news, I was told earlier this year (and finally allowed to share) that *some* of the fearsome fighting females of Wakanda (aka the Dora Milaje) will have special “enhanced suits” in Wakanda Forever. You should expect them to look unsurprisingly badass and cool, and I’m sure they’ll need them against the monumental threats of Namor and his crew.” – Lizzie Hill on 12/11/21
Wright’s Shuri is rocking both a new hairstyle and costume. Gone are the braids that we’ve seen thus far from the character, with a new shorter cut that makes her look older.
Paired with that, it appears that she is wearing a purple jacket, reminiscent of a 90’s Taco Bell. This look was also seen on the film’s new sprite cross-promotional box, however, she’s standing in a different pose on the shirt.
BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER x Sprite coming soon ? pic.twitter.com/6TBMYU2OmD
— Black Panther 2 News (@bpanthernews) June 10, 2022
Perhaps the newest look of the bunch of returning characters is that of Nyong’o’s Nakia. Last seen in Black Panther, Nakia had a shorter hairstyle which has now been replaced with long cascading braids.
It also looks like she has gained her own green armor, whereas, in the first film, she wore the Dora Milaje armor in the final battle. I am glad to see that she is still rocking her signature circular blades. So between the blades and the armor, we can assume that Nakia is definitely a part of the action in Wakanda Forever.
Riri’s Ironheart suit to appear in Wakanda Forever
Last but certainly not least is our look at Thorne’s Riri Williams, the newest addition to the MCU family. Her appearance on both shirts is of the same pose. However, the second shirt gives us a better look at the full Ironheart suit and the group shot gives us a more colorful look at her first MCU appearance.
Riri’s Mark 1 armor looks unrefined, similar to Tony Stark’s (Robert Downey Jr.) first suit of armor. However, Riri’s is still leaps and bounds above the armor Tony made in the cave. The Ironheart suit has a heart-shaped arc reactor in the middle of its chest, hence the heart part of her superhero name. Riri has a giant hand cannon with three offshoots pointing away from it. She has some goggles on her face. However, she lacks a completed helmet of protection. (Although, perhaps her helmet is just down for the promo image)
The color scheme of the Mark 1 is similar to Iron Man’s, with what looks like red and gold on the metal parts of the suit. I love that this suit feels like a callback to the hero that started the MCU. It seems that Riri will begin her journey towards becoming her own superhero in this film with an early rendition of her armor. Williams will probably build her classic armor look in her solo show, which is filming now.
So with these first looks at some of the new appearances and characters coming to Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, what do you think? Do you like what you see, or were you hoping for something different? Let us know over on Twitter!
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is expected in theaters on November 11, 2022.
