Black Panther (2018) received a Metacritic score of 88, placing it among the highest-rated superhero films in the platform’s history.
When the sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, arrived in 2022, it achieved a significantly lower score of 68 based on 28 professional reviews—a 20-point decline that sparked considerable discussion about how the film was received by critics compared to its predecessor.
- Metacritic Rating Black: Table of Contents
- How Did Black Panther's Original Metacritic Score Compare to Other Superhero Films?
- What Does the Metacritic Drop Tell Us About Wakanda Forever's Reception?
- How Do Critics Explain the Performance Gap Between the Two Films?
- Should You Rely Solely on Metacritic Scores When Choosing What to Watch?
- What About Audience Scores Versus Critical Scores?
- How Do These Scores Affect the Franchise's Future?
- What's the Broader Context for These Ratings in 2024 and Beyond?
- Conclusion
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The drop between these two scores represents one of the notable disparities in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s critical reception. While an 88 on Metacritic is considered “universal acclaim,” the 68 score for Wakanda Forever falls into “mixed or average reviews” territory, indicating a notable shift in critical consensus.
This difference is substantial enough to warrant examination, as it reflects changing perspectives on the franchise’s creative direction and narrative choices.
Table of Contents
- How Did Black Panther’s Original Metacritic Score Compare to Other Superhero Films?
- What Does the Metacritic Drop Tell Us About Wakanda Forever’s Reception?
- How Do Critics Explain the Performance Gap Between the Two Films?
- Should You Rely Solely on Metacritic Scores When Choosing What to Watch?
- What About Audience Scores Versus Critical Scores?
- How Do These Scores Affect the Franchise’s Future?
- What’s the Broader Context for These Ratings in 2024 and Beyond?
- Conclusion
How Did Black Panther’s Original Metacritic Score Compare to Other Superhero Films?
Black Panther’s 88 metacritic score positioned it as one of the most critically lauded superhero films ever made. To put this in perspective, it scored higher than films like Captain America: The Winter Soldier (70), Thor: Ragnarok (74), and even The Avengers (66).
This placed the 2018 film in rare company among superhero adaptations, competing more directly with the critical reception of films like The Dark Knight Rises (79) and Spider-Man 2 (83).
The high score reflected critical recognition of the film’s cultural significance, nuanced storytelling, and Chadwick Boseman’s performance. Critics noted the film’s depth in exploring themes of identity, responsibility, and geopolitical tension within the context of a blockbuster superhero narrative.
This wasn’t merely a film that audiences enjoyed—critics across major publications took it seriously as a work of cinema.
What Does the Metacritic Drop Tell Us About Wakanda Forever’s Reception?
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’s 68 score, while not poor by most standards, represents a significant shift in critical perception. This score places it below other MCU entries like Spider-Man: No Way Home (71) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (75).
The 20-point decline suggests that critics found less to celebrate in the sequel, though it’s important to note that a 68 is still respectable and indicates more positive than negative reviews.
The lower score partly reflects the challenges the film faced during production, including the tragic death of star Chadwick Boseman, which forced significant rewrites and cast adjustments. Critics acknowledged the difficult circumstances but evaluated the film on its finished product.
Some reviewers praised the film’s emotional depth and how it handled grief, while others felt the narrative struggled to balance its multiple plot threads and character arcs. This division in critical perspective is reflected in the mid-range Metacritic score.
How Do Critics Explain the Performance Gap Between the Two Films?
Several factors contributed to the critical reception difference. The original Black Panther benefited from being a relatively unexpected cultural phenomenon—a superhero film that took its premise and themes seriously while also serving as a significant moment for representation in mainstream cinema. Critics were impressed by what the film accomplished on multiple levels simultaneously.
Wakanda Forever, conversely, faced higher expectations and different circumstances. While the film attempted to honor Boseman’s legacy and explore themes of loss, some critics felt the plot became unwieldy, juggling the death of T’Challa, the introduction of new characters, and multiple antagonistic forces.
The film was longer and more ambitious in scope, but critics were divided on whether these ambitions were successfully executed. The structural challenges that emerged may have contributed to the lower critical consensus.
Should You Rely Solely on Metacritic Scores When Choosing What to Watch?
Metacritic scores are useful data points but shouldn’t be your only consideration when deciding whether to watch a film. A score of 68 doesn’t mean a film is bad—it means critics were divided, with more positive than negative assessments overall.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever still contains well-crafted sequences, strong performances, and thematic ambition that individual viewers might deeply appreciate.
The limitation of Metacritic aggregation is that it flattens nuanced opinions into a single number. A critic who loved the film’s emotional handling of grief but found the plot confusing might contribute to a lower consensus score, even though their individual review highlights genuine strengths.
Reading actual reviews rather than just scanning the number often provides more useful guidance for your viewing choices.
What About Audience Scores Versus Critical Scores?
There’s frequently a gap between Metacritic’s critic score and audience ratings.
While Black Panther’s 88 critical score was reflected in strong audience reception, Wakanda Forever showed a more pronounced divide—critics were more divided (68) while audiences maintained stronger engagement (79 on IMDb’s scale).
This pattern appears in many franchise films where audiences are more forgiving of formulaic elements while critics judge based on innovation and artistic merit.
This disconnect highlights an important caveat: critics and audiences evaluate films through different lenses. Critics prioritize originality, thematic coherence, and artistic risk-taking, while audiences may weight emotional engagement, spectacle, and franchise loyalty more heavily. Neither perspective is wrong—they simply measure different things.
How Do These Scores Affect the Franchise’s Future?
The critical reception of these two films likely influences Marvel’s approach to future Black Panther entries. The success of the first film elevated expectations, while the mixed reception of Wakanda Forever suggests critics are scrutinizing the franchise’s formulaic tendencies more closely.
Future films may face even higher pressure to demonstrate narrative originality and creative justification for their existence.
The scores also matter in the larger context of how the MCU is perceived by both critics and audiences. As the franchise has expanded, critical reception has become more uneven overall.
The Black Panther films exemplify this trend—one celebrated as a cultural and artistic achievement, the other as a competent but flawed continuation that couldn’t replicate its predecessor’s magic.
What’s the Broader Context for These Ratings in 2024 and Beyond?
Looking forward, the divergence between the two Black Panther films reflects broader industry conversations about franchise fatigue and critical expectations for superhero cinema. As audiences and critics have become more selective, individual films face greater scrutiny about whether they justify their existence beyond brand recognition and spectacle.
The legacy of these two Metacritic scores will likely influence how future Black Panther stories are developed and marketed. Creators will need to demonstrate that they can deliver the cultural significance and artistic ambition that made the original film resonate, rather than relying on franchise momentum alone.
Conclusion
Black Panther’s 88 Metacritic score represents exceptional critical acclaim for a superhero film, while Wakanda Forever’s 68 score indicates a more divided critical reception. The 20-point difference between the two films is significant and reflects real changes in critical perception, creative execution, and perhaps the evolving landscape of expectations for major franchise entries.
When evaluating these scores, remember that they’re aggregate measures of diverse critical opinions rather than absolute judgments. Both films contain elements worth examining, and your personal viewing experience may diverge from the aggregate critical consensus.
The scores serve as data points to inform your choices, but the most meaningful evaluation comes from engaging with the films themselves and forming your own perspective.
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