This is a word, a podcast from Slate, I'm your host, Jason Johnson.

The release of Wakanda Forever marks the return of the Afro-futuristic nation to movie theaters.

Years after Black Panther took superhero storytelling to another level, how can Wakanda Forever

rise to the sky high expectations that we all have?

If the first Black Panther movie felt like a revelation and a kind of like explosion

of Black cultural pride, this movie is going to feel like a reunion and I think it's

going to feel like, okay, we get to reconvene and explore more collective emotions together.

The return to Wakanda, coming up on a word with me, Jason Johnson, stay with us.

Welcome to a word, a podcast about race and politics and everything else.

I'm your host, Jason Johnson, much has changed since Black Panther lit up movie screens

in 2018, becoming an unprecedented cultural touchstone and eventually earning more than

a billion dollars at the box office.

That film reflected the aspirations of the African diaspora and proved that there's an

audience hungry for Black superheroes who aren't side-kicks.

Wakanda Forever is out in theaters today, telling the story of how that fictional nation

is dealing with the loss of its king and fending off emerging new threats.

Beyond this new film, the Black Panther universe has grown since 2018 with the help of a community

of artists and writers who are building the world of Wakanda into stories and images.

One of those creators is Evan Narcisse.

He's a journalist, critic and also comic book writer who's contributed to several volumes

in the Black Panther series.

It includes the rise of Black Panther and his recent Wakanda Atlas for Marvel.

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