Eyes of Wakanda review: "A creative premise shortchanged by the runtime and Marvel bloat"

This review is spoiler-free.

Tucked away amid the hype surrounding The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and Avengers: Doomsday are a few smaller, lower-key MCU releases.

One of these projects is Eyes of Wakanda, a new, animated anthology series spinning off from the Black Panther films. The show, just four episodes long, follows Wakandan agents through various points in history as they track down missing Vibranium artifacts. Each installment takes place in a different time period and follows a fresh set of characters.

Immediately, the uniqueness of this premise is enough to make Eyes of Wakanda stand out from the rest of the MCU – and, unlike other Marvel animations such as What If…? or Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, this show is set firmly within canon.

It's a shame, then, that the show's potential is hamstrung by both its brevity and Marvel's release strategy, which ultimately leaves it an inessential but engaging entry in the MCU.

A trip through history

In the MCU, Wakanda maintained an isolationist policy until the events of the first Black Panther movie, which allows the show to explore a fascinating question: what if Wakanda had always been interacting with the world outside, just in secret?

The first two episodes are fully focused on this idea. The first introduces us to Noni, who has been kicked out of the Dora Milaje, but makes a formidable War Dog agent. She's sent to 1260 BC Crete and witnesses the arrival of the Sea Peoples (theorized to have helped spur the collapse of the Bronze Age in our own history), in the process going up against a former captain of the Wakandan Royal Guard, who is wreaking havoc in the real world after absconding from Wakanda with advanced tech. It's a solid start to the show, even if the brief runtime does leave it feeling like merely an introduction to characters we mostly won't see again, rather than a fulfilling story in its own right.

The next episode, which takes us to the Trojan War, explores Wakanda's influence on history (or mythology) in greater depth. Here, we're introduced to Memnon, a real mythological character who is recast as a Wakandan warrior. He's a comrade of another famous figure, Achilles, who also has a large role to play. The traditional myth gets an update with Memnon's involvement as he seeks to take back a Vibranium necklace now in the possession of Helen of Troy. It's interesting to see the contrast between Memnon basically texting home on a futuristic device with a classic, old fashioned sword and sandals battle, which is a concept the show could've exploited more: instead, we have just a few glimpses at Wakanda's incredible tech butting up against the real world.

Deepening the universe

Despite these initial two episodes being rooted in history, the latter half of the series leans more heavily into MCU connections, though it sticks to the central conceit by taking place in 1000 AD China and 1896 Ethiopia (amid the First Italo-Ethiopian War, though this is more set dressing than the first two episodes' treatment of history), respectively.

The third episode introduces a new version of Iron Fist, and it's the standout of the whole series. The runtime zips by with a plot that sees this (apparently first) Iron Fist infiltrate Wakanda to take back an artifact containing Vibranium, which was originally retrieved from China by Basha – a cocky agent good at thinking on his feet, and the most engaging of all the show's protagonists. There's some amusing bickering between Basha and Iron Fist, as well as an inventive action sequence as the duo clash over the artifact; Eyes of Wakanda has its own art style, pleasingly distinct from the other Marvel animated shows, and the painterly look and vivid colors allow for dynamic action and vibrant settings.

When the credits rolled on this episode, I was sad to leave the Iron Fist and Basha behind. That's the major issue with Eyes of Wakanda's anthology structure: it allows for multiple stories, but it also unfortunately short-changes those it has. While Noni shows up again very briefly, we soon leave her behind for good, and we never see Basha or the Iron Fist again.

Similarly, in the final episode, we meet a Black Panther from the future and a young, third son prince searching for his place in the world, but they don't get much space to shine before the episode (and show) comes to an end.

But, this last episode is the most creative use of the premise, bringing a satisfying full-circle feeling to the series thanks to a major link to the MCU involving the butterfly effect of a certain artifact, which I won't spoil here. Again, it's a fascinating concept that could've been explored more across the four episodes we have, rather than the show seeming uncertain on whether it's developing the MCU or giving us historical snapshots. There's also an attempt to link the four episodes together, but it's more tangential than a cohesive tapestry.

Wasted potential

Sadly, four, 30-minute episodes simply aren't enough to fully explore Eyes of Wakanda's concept, and just as it feels like the show is starting to get going, it ends. While there's a lot of promise for a second season, what we have now is left wanting – with an accumulated runtime of just two hours, it all falls a little short.

Eyes of Wakanda has also been done a disservice by the MCU itself. It's releasing three years after Wakanda Forever, and, much like Ironheart, it's a spin-off that would've made more noise had it been released closer to the film. As it is, the show (again, like Ironheart) has been dropped randomly into the MCU; there's nothing about it to suggest why it should be the first series of Marvel Phase 6, especially when its links to the MCU look backwards rather than forwards.

Even its release feels like an afterthought, considering it was originally slated for 2024, then this August 6, then August 27, and finally August 1. It's now arriving hot on the heels of Fantastic Four, which almost guarantees that it will get lost in the noise. In fact, it only just got a full-length trailer. How is a short animated series supposed to hold its own against one of the biggest films of the year?

Unfortunately, Eyes of Wakanda's release strategy feels like a casualty of Marvel bloat and disorganization in the streaming era, which is a real shame, because it really does hold such promise. Wakanda is a fantastically rich setting, and there are infinite possibilities to explore in the long wait for Black Panther 3. Instead, we have what feels like half a series, just long enough to spark interest, but not long enough to fulfil its potential.

Hopefully, if Marvel chooses to continue the show, that potential can be realized. But, with the new strategy to dial back on streaming and focus on blockbusters – like those forthcoming Avengers and Spider-Man movies – I'm worried that Eyes of Wakanda might never get the chance it really deserves.

Eyes of Wakanda is streaming on Disney Plus now. For more on Marvel, check out our guide to all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows, as well as how to watch the Marvel movies in order.