Marvel’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” takes viewers through a great deal of heartbreak, understanding and empathy as early as the opening scene in the long-awaited movie that premiered on Nov. 11.

This movie’s emotional delivery was fantastic and effortless. Director Ryan Coogler created a masterpiece with a natural blend of heartfelt, painful and humorous moments. Viewers are taken through the challenges that our protagonist Shuri, the princess of Wakanda, faces after the death of her brother, the former ruler of Wakanda, King T’Challa. As we watch this unfold, we experience the five stages of grief in the best way possible. 

The opening scene of the film gives the viewer a good idea of what they’re in for. In a beautiful ceremony in honor of T’Challa, as well as late actor Chadwick Boseman, we see an impassioned performance by Letitia Wright, the actress who plays Shuri, that is echoed through many other members of the cast. The wardrobe and music in the scene evoked such emotion in me before the movie even hit the 10-minute mark. 

Stunning scenes and performances like this continue throughout the film from actors Angela Bassett, Danai Gurira and of course our antagonist Tenoch Huerta, who plays the formidable villain Namor. While I do believe that Erik Killmoger made a stronger antagonist in the first “Black Panther” movie, I think the journey Shuri finds herself going through is a much bigger payoff with higher personal stakes. We see her struggles as she tries to balance grief with her duty to her nation and her responsibility to defend against the new-found threat. This ultimately made the movie a lot more compelling than the first one. 

We also have fantastic comedic performances from Winston Duke as M’Baku and Dominique Thorne as the infamous Riri Williams. I couldn’t help but jump out of my seat when I finally saw the long-awaited debut of the superhero Iron Heart on the big screen. Domonique Thorne perfectly captured Riri’s witty and humorous nature from the Marvel comics and I can’t wait to see more of her. 

The movie in its entirety was very enjoyable to watch. Not one moment felt tonally wrong or incorrectly paced. In its nearly 3-hour run-time, “Wakanda Forever” was visually and emotionally stunning. Compared to the first movie, this film gave the audience a chance to connect with the characters on a deeper personal level, again creating a much bigger payoff when it came to character development. I was absorbed into the entire film for both my first and second watch.   

If you haven’t already, get your tickets, prepare your tissues and go to your local theater to check out this heartbreaker of a film, rated PG-13.