“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” Trailer Explodes With 172 Million Views in 24 Hours
The desire to see Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther follow-up Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is immense. In fact, the first trailer for Coogler’s sequel drew one of the biggest responses in Marvel history, nabbing an astonishing 172 million views in its first 24 hours, a source close to Marvel confirmed with Variety.
The trailer was revealed this past weekend as part of Marvel Studios’ massive presentation at Hall H, where Coogler and members of the cast were on hand to give the world its first glimpse at the sequel. There is an undeniable sadness beneath the celebration, however, with Wakanda Forever forging a path forward without Black Panther himself, Chadwick Boseman, who died tragically, at 43, in August of 2020. How Coogler and his talented cast and crew managed to make that work is part of the mystery surrounding the project, and the trailer gave us the first glimpse of how they were going to approach Boseman’s loss. The answer, unsurprisingly, is with a tremendous amount of love and respect. Yet Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will also thrill, and the first look, which revealed the film’s big bad is Namor the Sub-Mariner (Tenoch Huerta), was not short on excitement.
How good is 172 million views? Consider that when the trailer for the original Black Panther bowed in 2017, it gobbled up 88 million views. Variety also tracked its social mentions, which neared a million with 893,000. Trending topics once the trailer bowed included Chadick Boseman, T’Challa, Ryan Coogler, Namor, Shuri, Angela Bassett, and Ryan Coogler. The hashtag #WakandaForever sat in the top spot for more than five hours.
With 172 million views in its first 24 hours, Wakanda Forever is now one of the biggest trailer launches for standalone movies in Marvel history. The reigning king is Spider-Man: No Way Home, which pulled in an unbelievable 355.5 million views, followed by Thor: Love and Thunder‘s 209 million. Unsurprisingly, in the non-standalone category, the last two Avengers movies did gangbusters business, with Endgame and Infinity War netting massive numbers. The first teaser for Endgame drew 289 million, while the first teaser for Infinity War grabbed 230 million.
One key stat for Wakanda Forever is it was likely hampered by the time the trailer dropped—at 9:20 pm ET on a Saturday night. That’s a tough hour to start the clock, rather than, say, a Friday morning at 9 am when people have the entire workday to watch it. Yet the excitement surrounding the film overwhelmed that less-than-ideal starting time.
The majority of the Black Panther cast will return to honor T’Challa’s legacy and forge a new path. They include Lupita Nyong’o, Letitia Wright, Danai Gurira, Angela Bassett, Florence Kusamba, and Winston Duke. Joining Tenoch Huerta in the new faces department are Dominique Thorne (playing Riri Thomas, who will soon have her own Marvel series on Disney+, Ironheart), Michaela Coel, Alex Nivilani, and Mabel Cadena.
If you want to re-watch that trailer or check it out for the first time to see what all the fuss is about, please be our guest. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever arrives on November 11.
For more on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, check out these stories:
First “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” Trailer Hails a Lost King & Introduces a New Threat
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” Star Letitia Wright Says Sequel Honors Chadwick Boseman
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” & More MCU Films Get New Release Date
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” Starts Filming in Atlanta
Featured image: “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” Courtesy Marvel Studios.
