New Marvel movie Black Panther 2 is great, but it’s a long watch. The runtime for the action movie is nearly three hours, a tricky prospect when it comes to your bladder. Director Ryan Coogler is aware of this, posting a message thanking fans for keeping it together for the duration, along with other sentimentalities.
“Gratitude. That is the only word that comes to mind for your support of our work in the film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. I am filled with it,” Coogler starts. “Thank you. Thank you to the people who bought their tickets early and camped out opening weekend. Thank you to those of you [who] took their families out – young ones and elders in tow. To those who organised youth screenings and afterparties, who bought out theatres for communities and friends.”
He gives a shout out to people who’ve already seen the superhero movie multiple times, and have been recommending it to everyone they know. “Our film is over two and a half hours long, so thank you for holding those bathroom breaks,” he adds. “Our film has six languages spoken in it. Thank you for bearing with the subtitles.”
Like any MCU movie, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is an event, but unlike many instalments in the franchise, this one had to manoeuvre its own star, Chadwick Boseman, passing away. That, the introduction of Namor, and just going back to Wakanda created a lot of buzz for the film.
Fans seem to be enjoying the picture. Our Charlotte Colombo certainly did, calling it “the perfect, cathartic way to end Phase 4” in her Black Panther 2 review. In the sequel, the Wakandan people mourn the loss of T’Challa, while navigating a threat from the underwater kingdom Talokan and Marvel villain Namor.
Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Tenoch Huerta, and Lupita Nyong’o star in the adventure movie, which is in cinemas now. Check out our guide to Marvel’s Phase 5 to see when you’ll next require a superpowered bladder.