Review: Marvel's "Eyes of Wakanda" Dives Into Black Panther Lore with Unique Art and Impressive Action

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has introduced a lot of beautiful and fascinating worlds to a very large audience. The problem is, in telling the stories of the larger-than-life characters, the worlds themselves often do not get enough time to breathe. Wakanda is probably the best example of this as fans have fallen in love with the fictional African nation over the course of several films.

Now, thanks to Marvel’s newest animated series, fans can dive more deeply into the lore of that land. Marvel’s Eyes of Wakanda tells the story of the Wakandan War Dogs and their various missions over centuries to recover stolen vibranium artifacts.

First and foremost, it should be pointed out that this new animated series is not moving the story of the MCU forward. At a time where many Marvel fans grow more and more frustrated with the lack of cohesion in the MCU, you might be looking to every new project for answers as to when it is all coming together. You will not be getting those answers from this series. Of course, an animated anthology series focusing on the past of one particular corner of the Marvel Universe probably would not have been a good place to do that.

Instead, what this series does provide is a chance to dive into some history of Wakanda. The technologically advanced nation has always been very interesting to fans and now we get to see it at various points in history, spanning from 1260 BC to 1896 AD. This is an otherwise untapped area of the Marvel Universe and it was great to see some of the stories of some new characters throughout time.

Perhaps the real star of this series though is the unique art style. The stunning landscapes of Wakanda and other places around the world are shown beautifully through this water color-esque method. It creates some truly incredible visuals and keeps the audience glued to the screen.

Another impressive element of this series is the action. There are multiple fight scenes in the four episodes that look as though they were painstakingly choreographed by the best stunt workers in the game. That kind of detail in an animated series is very impressive and the result is some very visually pleasing fight sequences. Coupled with the art style, the action in this series is enough to watch.

There is also plenty of Marvel lore included in the series to keep fans interested. Outside of just the history of Wakanda, we get to see familiar characters interacting with the War Dogs at various points in history. Some of these characters have never appeared in the MCU before, while another is one of the most popular villains we’ve seen on the big screen.

And while this series takes us through history, making it at least somewhat predictable, it does deliver a very surprising conclusion. While each episode focuses on an individual mission to recover a single artifact, the series escalates to a world-threatening situation by its end. We also get a very fun take on the Black Panther that we haven’t seen before.

Overall, Eyes of Wakanda is likely not going to be for everyone because of the niche content on which it focuses. If you’re only into Marvel to see how the Avengers reassemble, you may want to skip it. However, if you are interested in the lore of Wakanda and of the Marvel Universe as a whole, this is a very fun watch. The stunning visuals and interesting story will draw you in and hold you, albeit for a brief four-episode run.

Marvel’s Eyes of Wakanda is streaming now on Disney+.