Danai Gurira (Okoye) calls Wakanda Forever “deeply cinematic”
By Ashley Hurst
Welcome to another installment in the never-ending “Are Marvel movies cinema?” debate. Ever since legendary director Martin Scorsese said that MCU films were “not cinema,” everyone has been throwing in their two cents in, from Ridley Scott calling Marvel movies “boring” to James Cameron accusing them of being stuck in adolescence.
Enter Marvel star Danai Gurira, who stepped in to defend her new movie Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which is out now. She plays Okoye. “Well, I’ve worked very closely with [director] Ryan Coogler. My experience working under his helm, it’s definitely deeply cinematic in every way I can imagine,“ she told GQ.
"We’re not leaving anything at home. We’re bringing it all. We’re bringing our understanding of our culture, understanding of our humanity, of our gender, of the complexities therein of this world that we’re in, and all the specificities of this world. We have to come in and pour all we’ve got into this franchise. And that’s what we definitely, definitely do. We didn’t get through either movie and be like, ‘Oh, that was nothing.’ No. It was all we had. It was all we had, and then some. So I hope that’s cinema to somebody."
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is “cinema to somebody”
We can say one thing for superhero movies: they are getting people into theaters. For some time, Avengers: Endgame was the highest grossing movie ever made, until it was overtaken by a rerelease of Avatar.
Playing Okoye isn’t Gurira’s only comic book role. She’s probably best known for her portrayal of Michonne in The Walking Dead. Michonne may have left the show in season 9, but she will make a triumphant return in a spinoff next year alongside co-star Andrew Lincoln (Rick Grimes). Not only is she starring in this spinoff, but she’s also serving as a writer/producer.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is out now in theaters. So far, it’s getting some pretty stellar reviews. It promises to be a highly emotional experience. Wakanda forever!
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