Spoilers for "Eyes of Wakanda" follow, folks. Be careful down there!
Marvel Studios has proven its willingness to play on previous blockbuster nostalgia when casting actors for their projects, as anyone who saw Robert Redford in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" will attest. Cameos are another bag entirely when a lot of these stars have been around long enough to live entire alternate lives in associated projects, with Chris Evans turning up as Johnny Storm in "Deadpool & Wolverine" serving as a great
example. Marvel's latest release, "Eyes of Wakanda" plays this effect on the nose, with Anika Noni Rose playing a new character with a surprising link to her Disney past. Fans of "The Princess and the Frog" are going to be pleased when they see her role in the new "Black Panther" spinoff, because it's a great Disney Easter egg.
Rose voiced Princess Tiana in "The Princess and the Frog," and that movie has only gained more fans as the years go by. Her character made headlines back when the film released in 2009, as the first Black Disney Princess ever, though the movie that was a bit underserved at the time. Disney has maintained a good relationship with Rose since, and her popping up in "Eyes of Wakanda" wasn't the biggest surprise. However, the role she's playing in the series will bring a smile to a lot of people's faces once they meet her as "The Last Panther" in the series' final installment on Disney+.
"The Last Panther" follows the story of Prince Tafari and Kuda, who work as Wakandan spies reclaiming stolen vibranium artifacts from the outside world. After the prince quickly retrieves an axe they've been sent after, their mission is knocked off its axis by a mysterious stranger with a powered suit of armor. The boys quickly discover that their assailant is Wakandan, but they do not know her because she's from the future. She's the "Last Black Panther," a queen of Wakanda trying to avert an apocalypse in her time. Rose voices "The Last Panther," and it's actually her second time as a Wakandan with a royal lineage.
Read more: Every Marvel Character Locked Up In The Raft
The Last Panther Welcomes Anika Noni Rose Back To Wakanda In A Much Bigger Role
Interestingly enough, Anika Noni Rose has played a Wakandan monarch before, as she voiced one of T'Challa's ancestors in the "Marvel Avengers Assemble" season 5 episode "Yemandi." As the titular pirate, Rose brings a spirit of business to an adventure with a much younger Thor long before the Black Panther we all know was born, and it's a different take on Wakandan royalty than "The Last Panther." She has to complete a "Panther Puzzle" centered around the first Black Panther, Bashenga.
Rose spoke to Marvel HQ back in 2019 about the fun she had playing the role of Yemandi in the episode. She explained how impactful she felt the character was and expressed hope for more work in this universe. "I love superheroes and I love supervillains, so it's great to be a part of the Marvel family," Rose said. "I hope that it's the beginning of something different and interesting for me. Because I haven't been able to play a super-anybody. Marvel is something I've wanted to be a part of for many years."
It looks like all that patience paid off in "Eyes of Wakanda," as the first African American Disney princess got to be Wakandan royalty not just once, but twice, and even donned a Black Panther suit this time around.
Eyes Of Wakanda Manages To Give A Landmark Performer Her Flowers With Her Signature Role In The Marvel Universe
Playing Yemandi had to be a thrill, but Rose's role in "Eyes of Wakanda" is another ballpark entirely. Fans of her previous work probably won't forget her yelling "Wakanda Forever" multiple times as she holds off an insect invasion by herself as a one-woman army. Not to mention the cosplay possibilities, as her Disney princess is already a hit during Halloween and on the convention circuit. It's just a nice full circle moment for fans to see the actress get her flowers again so soon after the ride based on "The Princess and the Frog" opened in the Disney parks.
"Eyes of Wakanda's" biggest promise heading into the series was the deepening of the Black Panther mythos, and it succeeds in this aim. Viewers are already wondering what other historical details Todd Harris, Ryan Coogler, and company could draw out of the world of Wakanda if given the opportunity. Anika Noni Rose's involvement as The Last Panther also helps deepen its bond to a large section of the show's audience, who fell in love with "The Princess and the Frog," and lament the Tiana series' fate on Disney+.
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Read the original article on SlashFilm.
