Entertainment Weekly has the first look at Eyes of Wakanda, the animated Black Panther spinoff series coming to Disney+ this summer. The show comes from Todd Harris, who serves as showrunner and director, and he said Marvel let him go “hog wild” on the series.
“I really liked the idea of everyone’s view of history,” Harris said. “The story starts off during the end of the Western Bronze Age, and that spark sets off this giant spy-espionage story that reverberates through time…. You get Wakanda-grade James Bond, and sometimes a Jane Bond, with the backdrop of all the awesomeness that is Wakanda.“
You can check out some first-look images from Eyes of Wakanda below.
Eyes of Wakanda is a collection of short stories from different time periods of Wakandan history, which Harris refers to as “anthology adjacent.“
“We have characters that are very important in the show, but it also examines what kind of person Wakanda makes,” Harris explained. “A 10,000-year-old society. What kind of fortitude, what kind of lack of temptation to over expand? All these different things to keep things from imploding, all these different things that have been the detriment to a lot of history…how did they avoid that and what kind of person does that make? What kind of rock-solid principles keeps them on the straight and narrow that balance that’s so hard for everyone alive?“
The series will feature the voices of Cress Williams (Black Lightning) as the Lion, Winnie Harlow (America’s Next Top Model) as Noni, and Anika Noni Rose (The Princess and the Frog) as one of the most “crucial” characters. Other cast members include Steve Toussaint, Patricia Belcher, Larry Herron, Adam Gold, Lynn Whitfield, Jacques Colimon, Jona Xiao, Isaac Robinson-Smith, Gary Anthony Williams, and Zeke Alton.
Harris teased that Eyes of Wakanda will be a “globe-trotting adventure” with a few surprises sprinkled throughout for Marvel fans. The series will debut on Disney+ on August 6. As for the live-action Wakanda, a few Black Panther characters are included in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday, and director Ryan Coogler is expected to return for Black Panther 3, which could feature none other than Denzel Washington.
