Throughout history, portions of Black history have been erased. We’re seeing that today with censorship in schools, the banning of books, a general trend toward erasure of American slavery’s historical legacy (e.g, Florida’s “Stop Woke Act”). Marvel’s new animated series Eyes of Wakanda refuses to shy away from these truths.
Directed by Todd Harris, it is a show that ensures that by way of the mythology and legacy of Black Panther and the MCU, histories like these are not forgotten, and can be folded into established narratives or approached through the lens of pop culture.
This is something Eyes of Wakanda director Harris knows all about. After all, one does not simply step into the world brought famously to life by a brilliant filmmaker like Ryan Coogler, and just coast. Harris worked hard with his talented crew of animators and storytellers to craft an incredible four-episode miniseries of stories that integrate Wakandan culture into the historical tales the show weaves; in many ways, symbolizing the largely ignored impact Black people have had throughout the annals of history. While at San Diego Comic Con, we were incredibly fortunate enough to get an exclusive 1:1 interview with Harris about Eyes of Wakanda and the stories he wanted to contribute to the rich legacy of the Black Panther mythology, and what that says about true world history as well.
Here’s what he had to say about the project:
NOC: When I watched the first episode, I’d seen trailers and everything, but I had no idea what to expect, And I was not ready. This goes hard, man! And I love that about it, both thematically, but also in terms of the physical action. And it just surprised me, because you expect, with Marvel cartoon shows, things to be a little bit more sanitized. You guys didn’t do that at all. And I love that so much! How did you arrive at the tone and and the direction that we see in Eyes of Wakanda from the very first episode and on?
HARRIS: Well, with the tone and style (I have a particular track record for action), they let me go full “me.” With some limitations. I always told the crew this was, “dry action.” Not too bloody, but visceral and serious. We wanted to make sure we stuck to a certain tone that felt honest to the subject matter. And that was always… the action had to represent the seriousness of what we were talking about.
I love that. I think that for me, this is an important show for a lot of reasons. The things that you touch on thematically are incredibly brave. And I think at a time when the political administration that we’re in is trying to censor things, like exploring the notions of slavery and the repercussions of that, and forcing people to be indoctrinated into things that they have to believe (like in the very first episode, “Into the Lion’s Den“), you’re telling hard truths about what happened in history in the form of these characters. And I have to ask, did the current political climate and what we’re seeing today help shape the topics and the themes that you wanted to cover in this series, and were you worried at all about any reception or censorship when you did choose those topics?
HARRIS: This is a story that should resonate no matter what era we’re living in. Because history is history. And the whole point of this, is the human story. And the human story is usually… nothing’s consistent. Nothing is constant. And so when we go through these kind of troublesome times, we’ll always see echoes of what’s going on now, what happened in the recent past, what we might be going towards for the future. So whatever and wherever the story lands, whether it be topically in the world right now, is just the very nature that history repeats itself. And the whole point of the show is that we learn that we’re in this together. And the world is not as segregated as people like to make it to be. History has a long lineage of all of us being in this together. Rome is a consistent thing. The Mediterranean is a consistent thing. The Fertile Crescent. All of us cross-pollinated, all throughout history. So we’re never islands, even though we like to think we are. And so hopefully people get out of the show that it’s humanity’s story. Not individual stories.
I love that Eyes of Wakanda is proof that you can’t really silence that truth. You can’t really silence that history. This is stuff that really does happen and has happened in history. And you are expressing how this really is humanity in and of itself, inside and outside. I love that, and I’m grateful that you were so bold to actually cover that. If I could bring things a little bit lighter, do you think we’ll ever see some of the history that we’re seeing in Eyes of Wakanda, i.e. this being MCU history, translated or affecting any of Ryan’s future live action Black Panther movies? Because we know more are coming, and this series is going to happen before them. So do you think that’s going to get seen or translated in those movies?
HARRIS: Listen, if this show can, in any way, inspire Ryan to incorporate some of it into the next Black Panther, it would be an honor. One thing we always try to do is, we just try to make the show we’re trying to make, and hopefully, you know, it does what it does, which is resonates the signal in the zeitgeist that inspires people to do something bigger and better and move it forward. If that happens with any other Marvel project, that’s just an honor for it to happen.
Absolutely, I want to talk about two things, the gorgeous animation and the wonderful score. And you know, it’s not often that we get to see this side of the Marvel Universe like this, translated into animation so beautiful, and with the score so consistent with what Ludwig Göransson has cultivated for the Black Panther themes. So can you talk about the process of what it was like to have Ryan’s movies and score kind of drive the visuals and the sound of this series as you adapted it?
HARRIS: Our composer, Hesham [Nazih], who is a genius — he’s fantastic — he was a guy who, when he sent us his first sample, everyone knew that was the guy. He was so collaborative, and he was so helpful in just finding the voice for the story. We’re trying to make a new epic story. Especially every single one is its own movie. That was always the challenge. And you can’t create such a fixed point in time and make it feel like its own world without a soundtrack to kind of buoy it. And so the visuals are one thing, but the music is the thing that really puts you in the world. And just, we were so proud of it!
I felt fully immersed. I thought this was gorgeous. I think this is a show that we need now. And I’m so grateful for all you guys have done with this series and this slice of the MCU as well!
All episodes of Eyes of Wakanda hit Disney+ this Friday, August 1.
