C.D. Reimer

Why are the French the bad guys in “Wakanda Forever”?

With Wakanda revealing itself to the world at the end of “Black Panther,” the United States and Europe became second-tier superpowers. The only way they can shift the balance of power back in their favor is to acquire vibranium.

The French government still maintain diplomatic relations with French-speaking African nations. That made them the logical choice to be the European representative at the United Nations in Geneva scene. Making the confrontation with the queen of an African nation never conquered by colonial powers even more dramatic.

The movie did make a mistake using the camouflage uniforms. The French government would have wanted “plausible deniability” if their mercenaries got caught. The uniforms should have been all black and the mercenaries should have been local people.

That would have made the link between the French government and the mercenaries less explicit.

A French journalist recently watched “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” Paid close attention to the United Nations in Geneva scene. Queen Ramonda confronts the French ambassador for trying to steal vibranium from a Mali outreach center.

The journalist noted that the mercenaries wore camouflage uniforms similar to those of the French troops deployed in Mali.

French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu tweeted on February 12, 2023:

France, a former colonial power in Africa, spent ten years defending Mali from Islamist terrorists. After a military coup against the Mali government in 2020, the French pulled their troops out in 2021. The idea that modern-day French soldiers would try to steal the resources of another nation was outrageous.