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The Dora Milaje are the most elite fighting force in Wakanda, an army of women loyal to the death to their kingdom’s ruler. These elite bodyguards have existed in the comics since the late ‘90s, and have become pop culture icons since their introduction in the MCU. But as Black Panther: Wakanda Forever revealed, there is an elite force within the elite force: the Midnight Angels. They were one of the definite highlights of the film.
If the Dora Milaje of Wakanda are the best warriors on Earth, then the Midnight Angels are the best of the best of them. While the Dora exist to protect the sovereign, the Midnight Angels protect the people of the kingdom and the people’s best interests—sometimes against what the royal family wants. Here is the Marvel Comics history of the Midnight Angels and how it ties into their MCU counterparts.
Marvel Created the Midnight Angels to Fight Dr. Doom
The elite group first appeared in Doomwar #5, back in 2010. The creative team of Jonathan Maberry and Scott Eaton created them. The Doomwar story centered on Dr. Doom attempting to steal all the vibranium from Wakanda. King T’Challa originally formed the group, hoping his elite strike team could take out Doom themselves (with a little help from Deadpool).
The Midnight Angels wore winged stealth suits, and carried electric weapons. They gave the wearer advanced abilities, like strength and agility, along with flight. They, of course, made all their suits of pure vibranium. The Midnight Angels all communicated with one another through their Kimoyo beads, and responded to direct threats to the Wakandan royals. In the pages of the comics, their headmistress Zola trained them, and among their most prominent members were Dora Milajemembers like Ayo and Aneka. They went on covert missions aboard their own Avengers-like Quinjet, which they called the Dagger.
Dora Milaje Gone Rogue
In the comics, Aneka and Ayo began to have issues with T’Challa and the royal family—particularly with some of the decisions they made. Aneka took justice into her own hands against a terrible tribal warlord, killing him. Because she went against the code of the Dora, they stripped the Dora Milaje title from her and imprisoned her. But her fellow Dora and love, Ayo, stole the prototype armor, and busted her out of jail. The couple became a new Midnight Angels squad, and swore to protect Wakandans without the backing of the royal family.
The Midnight Angels in the MCU
In Wakanda Forever, the Midnight Angels have a very similar look and backstory. Shuri was developing a new armor called Midnight Angel at the start of the film. When the second attack from Namor and his Talocan forces happens on Wakanda, we see the armor in action. Unlike the comics though, it was not Aneka or Ayo who wore it first. The movie gave much of Aneka’s comic book arc—her being stripped of her rank and disgraced, and then becoming a Midnight Angel—to Okoye. Although, Aneka and Ayo are still a part of the story and get to wear Midnight Angel armor, their main story beats go to the general.
At the end of Wakanda Forever, it appears Okoye still has the Midnight Angel armor. We see her bust Everett Ross out of incarceration wearing it. It’s likely that when she gets her own series or film, as has been announced, the title will be Midnight Angel, and we’ll see her in the armor again. Given that Okoye called the armor “ugly,” we imagine it will get an upgrade or two. We think she’s earned whatever armor upgrades she wants.
The post Who Are BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER’s Midnight Angels in the Comics? appeared first on Nerdist.
The Dora Milaje are the most elite fighting force in Wakanda, an army of women loyal to the death to their kingdom’s ruler. These elite bodyguards have existed in the comics since the late ‘90s, and have become pop culture icons since their introduction in the MCU. But as Black Panther: Wakanda Forever revealed, there is an elite force within the elite force: the Midnight Angels. They were one of the definite highlights of the film.
If the Dora Milaje of Wakanda are the best warriors on Earth, then the Midnight Angels are the best of the best of them. While the Dora exist to protect the sovereign, the Midnight Angels protect the people of the kingdom and the people’s best interests—sometimes against what the royal family wants. Here is the Marvel Comics history of the Midnight Angels and how it ties into their MCU counterparts.
Marvel Created the Midnight Angels to Fight Dr. Doom
The elite group first appeared in Doomwar #5, back in 2010. The creative team of Jonathan Maberry and Scott Eaton created them. The Doomwar story centered on Dr. Doom attempting to steal all the vibranium from Wakanda. King T’Challa originally formed the group, hoping his elite strike team could take out Doom themselves (with a little help from Deadpool).
The Midnight Angels wore winged stealth suits, and carried electric weapons. They gave the wearer advanced abilities, like strength and agility, along with flight. They, of course, made all their suits of pure vibranium. The Midnight Angels all communicated with one another through their Kimoyo beads, and responded to direct threats to the Wakandan royals. In the pages of the comics, their headmistress Zola trained them, and among their most prominent members were Dora Milajemembers like Ayo and Aneka. They went on covert missions aboard their own Avengers-like Quinjet, which they called the Dagger.
Dora Milaje Gone Rogue
In the comics, Aneka and Ayo began to have issues with T’Challa and the royal family—particularly with some of the decisions they made. Aneka took justice into her own hands against a terrible tribal warlord, killing him. Because she went against the code of the Dora, they stripped the Dora Milaje title from her and imprisoned her. But her fellow Dora and love, Ayo, stole the prototype armor, and busted her out of jail. The couple became a new Midnight Angels squad, and swore to protect Wakandans without the backing of the royal family.
The Midnight Angels in the MCU
In Wakanda Forever, the Midnight Angels have a very similar look and backstory. Shuri was developing a new armor called Midnight Angel at the start of the film. When the second attack from Namor and his Talocan forces happens on Wakanda, we see the armor in action. Unlike the comics though, it was not Aneka or Ayo who wore it first. The movie gave much of Aneka’s comic book arc—her being stripped of her rank and disgraced, and then becoming a Midnight Angel—to Okoye. Although, Aneka and Ayo are still a part of the story and get to wear Midnight Angel armor, their main story beats go to the general.
At the end of Wakanda Forever, it appears Okoye still has the Midnight Angel armor. We see her bust Everett Ross out of incarceration wearing it. It’s likely that when she gets her own series or film, as has been announced, the title will be Midnight Angel, and we’ll see her in the armor again. Given that Okoye called the armor “ugly,” we imagine it will get an upgrade or two. We think she’s earned whatever armor upgrades she wants.
The post Who Are BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER’s Midnight Angels in the Comics? appeared first on Nerdist.
When it comes to action movies, I prefer movies that show women throwing punches, flipping off walls, and fighting for what they believe in. Watching films where women aren’t the damsel in distress is inspiring as well as entertaining.
Besides being enjoyable to watch, female action heroes and villains show viewers that it’s okay for women to be strong, smart, and sexy. With all this being said, here’s my list of 9 Black female superheroes and villains and why every woman should look up to them.
The heroes
- Danai Gurira as Okoye in Black Panther
Okoye’s loyalty is one of the many reasons I admire Danai Gurira’s character from Black Panther. Without overlooking her impeccable fighting skills, such as catapulting a spear while standing on top of a moving car to successfully stop a runaway van, her loyalty is what makes her unique. It’s her willingness to fight for Wakanda until the very end. She reminds us all that it’s not always about winning or losing but how you fight.
- Viola Davis as General Nanisca in The Woman King
Being a fan of the Dora Milaje in Black Panther, my heart did a backflip when the cinematic world gifted us with another opportunity to watch an all-woman army on the big screen. Although the history of the Agojie army is not accurately told in the movie, right now I want to appreciate the film for its cinematic value.
In the film, award-winning actor Viola Davis plays the leading role of the fierce General Nanisca. This character was much more than her killer instincts and deadly fighting moves.
As Quinn Clarke wrote in an article in Collider.com that Nanisca had suffered from trauma and no amount of fighting and bloodshed could make that pain go away. It’s when she learns to feel the pain instead of numbing it that she becomes a truly unstoppable warrior.
This character reminds us that there are times to be warriors and fight, but fighting can’t heal all wounds.
- Pam Grier in Foxy Brown
Although I didn’t grow up watching the hit 1970s show Foxy Brown, I have formed an appreciation for this character even though she was before my time. For those unfamiliar Pam Grier’s character, Foxy Brown not only created the path for other Black female action stars but she did it in a unique and foxy way. She was all-encompassing, clever, sassy, and a fighter. Foxy Brown reminds every woman watching that you don’t have to fit into any box and that being a woman, especially a Black woman, is multi-faceted.
- Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau in WandaVision
I was charmed by Monica Rambeau when she made her first appearance as a spunky and loveable daughter in Captain Marvel. When they reintroduced the older version of her in Disney+’s Wanda Vision, I was ready to watch her story unfold.
Although Teyonah Parris wasn’t in every episode and did get sidelined a few times, the way she portrayed this resilient character drew me in whenever she appeared on the screen. What stood out to me about Rambeau was that she genuinely saw the good in people, particularly Wanda Maximoff.
Yes, Maximoff did make some questionable decisions, but Rambeau saw the pain that Maximoff was trying to mask with her abilities. Rambeau’s compassion was so strong that even after she got blasted through an entire town and across a supercharged barrier, she still wanted to help.
In the series, we only get to see a glimpse of her new capabilities but I’m excited to see her step into her new power.
- Zazie Beetz as Stagecoach Mary in The Harder They Fall
I loved Zazie Beetz in this Netflix original because she played a fighter. The role played to her femininity with a wardrobe of corsets and dresses, yet she was not afraid to take a punch or punch back.
Although she delivered a great performance, it’s important to note the controversy around Beetz, a lighter-skinned actor playing the role of the actual Stagecoach Mary, who was of a darker complexion and different body type. All is said and done, but I’d hope that Beetz considers her advantage as a light-skinned actor more when accepting future roles.
Nonetheless, she did do a killer performance in Deadpool 2.
- Tessa Thompson as King Valkyrie in Thor: Ragnarok and Love and Thunder
King Valkyrie quickly became one of my favorite characters after her appearance in Thor Ragnarok (aka the best out of the four Thor movies). I appreciated the character’s transformation from being a drunk and slightly depressed warrior to ultimately doing the right thing, which was saving Asgard and helping out a friend.
Watching Tessa Thompson on the big screen made my heart jump every time I saw her riding through on her horse ready to demolish anything and anyone that stands in her way.
The villains
We all know villains are perceived as bad, but there are advantages to being evil. These hero counterparts don’t let anyone boss them around and they get what they want. Even though their reign of power eventually comes to a halt, I’ll still root for Black female villains before their evil streak ends.
- Emmy Raver-Lampman as Allison in The Umbrella Academy
Allison is the loveable sister of The Umbrella Academy. In the first two seasons, she always tried to keep the peace and look out for her siblings. She also puts everyone else’s needs in front of her personal needs and desires. Then in Season 3, things turned dark and Allison went from a hero to a villain. After committing a vengeful murder, Allison showed us that nothing would stop her.
Driven by grief, she continues to do questionable acts but ultimately saves everyone and gets the one thing she’s wanted since Season 1, which was to reunite with her family. Maybe being the bad guy isn’t the worst thing.
- Aaliyah as Queen Akasha in Queen of the Damned
Being a fan of the Anne Rice Vampire series, I was thrilled that Aaliyah transformed herself from a pop star to a fierce queen of the night in the movie Queen of the Damned. This role consisted of elaborate costumes, and sultry vampire movements in order to portray the very first vampire. Aaliyah was quoted saying to ET, “Akasha’s very regal. Very grand. A lot of great costumes. She’s sexy, but she’s evil.”
If it wasn’t for her tragic accident, I’m sure we would have seen Aaliyah in many more roles.
- Regina King as Gertrude “Trudy” Smith in The Harder They Fall
Trudy Smith is a ruthless character who is based on a real person. This historic figure gave Regina King the opportunity to play a new role. King told Oprah Daily, “I’ve never really gotten a chance to be a baddie.” Although Smith is a villain, her intentions are good. King portrays this role as a woman who doesn’t put up with disrespect of any kind.
This is just a short list and there are many more heroes and villains to admire. As the cinematic world is becoming more diverse and showing more characters from different cultures and backgrounds, I’m excited to see how the list of Black superheroes and villains grows with time.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever certainly deals with a lot of its past and present. From the ramifications of making itself known to the world to the aftermath of losing its beloved King, there’s a lot to explore alongside its action. But, as is the case with most Marvel offerings, the film also prepares us for the future. It is the final project in Phase 4, so of course it lays groundwork for the next chapter in the ongoing saga of the MCU. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever introduces Riri Williams, also known as Ironheart, and sets the stage for her Disney+ series in a wonderful way.
The film serves as almost a backdoor pilot for Riri Williams, introducing her to the live-action world. She’s a 19-year-old computer and engineering wiz MIT student (so she gets an age bump from the comics). Riri is also a hustler who uses her genius intellect to do her fellow students’ homework for money. She’s also not above blackmailing them to get a better fee. She might be young, but she’s tough enough to stand up to Okoye, fight the police, and go into battle.
As expected, she’s also a major Iron Man fan who builds her own secretive suit. But her skills as an engineer also put her life in peril. Ironheart finds herself on the wrong side of Namor and the Talokans. To spite a professor, she builds a machine that can detect vibranium, the only such device in the world. Like Tony Stark did long ago in a cave, it’s partly made out of scraps, showing just how much she learned toying around in her late father’s garage as a kid.
As a result, Namor wants to find Riri and kill her because, well, he doesn’t want anyone sniffing around the ocean for the valuable substance. The search for vibranium could lead to the discovery and destruction of his underwater world.
That’s how Riri comes under the care and camaraderie of Wakanda and Shuri, a comic connection that forms an undeniable bond. Their first major interaction leads to us seeing a cool early version of Riri’s Ironheart suit in action. In Wakanda, Riri uses the country’s tech to make an improved, far more stylish suit that she takes into battle. However, at the end of the film Shuri makes Riri leave the new iron suit behind. But while her original vibranium detector is destroyed in the film, the CIA knows Riri is the only one who can build one. She might be safe from Talokan for now, but likely not from her own government.
Ironheart and Her MCU Future
The Ironheart series will debut sometime in fall 2023, close to a year after Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. However, it seems that Ironheart will be a direct continuation of Riri Williams’ story. Her TV introduction certainly won’t be like Ms. Marvel’s, where her entire path from regular kid to hero took place on-screen. We will already have a foundational knowledge of who she is in the MCU and the very real journey she’s about to take.
In the comics, we see Riri taking a step back from being a hero, yet getting into the mix of an investigation alongside N.A.T.A.L.I.E. The details of that lead her back into the suit and eventually into a collective of young heroes. Riri’s first trip to Wakanda certainly isn’t her last, but that’s not likely in her television show. It’s up in the air how things will go and what new suits Ironheart will possibly build. (I am personally holding out hope for her pink one to make an appearance.) Until then, we can take joy in knowing that Black girls are shining in the Marvel Universe.
The post How BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER Sets Up Ironheart’s MCU Future appeared first on Nerdist.
Disclaimer: The first half of the review will be spoiler-free. The second half of the review will include exceedingly specific praises/grievances and will very much have many, many spoilers.
When you first boot up Gotham Knights, you are treated to a 21-minute cut scene that deals with Batman’s final stand and the immediate aftermath of his death. The majority of the time is spent in the expansive Batcave, and my first thought was, “what an impressive set piece with an incredibly questionable foundation.” As the game went on, this became a more or less apt metaphor for Gotham Knights as whole.
After leisurely completing the main campaign and side cases over the course of the week, dabbling with endgame and co-op, and starting the New Game Plus, I hold two states of mind:
- When this game hits, it hits incredibly well providing a high strung power fantasy playing as different Batfamily members.
- When this game misses, it instills a deep-sated rage I have not experience in many years and wanted to throw my controller at the television.
Living Up to a Legacy
As you’re probably already aware, Gotham Knights is the latest action RPG from WB Games Montreal that lets you take on the mantle of four of Batman’s proteges as they take over protecting Gotham, uncovering various secrets, and taking down various criminal organizations and villainous fronts. And while it takes some cues from the Arkham games that came before Knights, it is very intent on making sure you know it’s a separate entity.
It certainly doesn’t help that even on a next-generation console (a PlayStation 5 in my case) that the 30FS look and gameplay took several sessions to get used to. Immediately after your introduction to combat, the game then forces to you to learn how to navigate with the clunky Batcycle mechanics and makes it your primary mode of transportation through the several boroughs of Gotham (for many hours) before you can unlock fast travel points and character-specific traversal methods.
Gotham Knights’ core gameplay cycles between instance missions, where you’re tasked with various objectives, and an open free roam, where you patrol around Gotham taking down criminal in both randomly occurring and premeditates crimes. Gotham itself is an expansive city and each of the districts has its own character and charm with different landmarks and enemy factions. In the moments of patrol and directed missions lies Gotham Knights‘ greatest strength: you get to really embody the characters as time goes on.
At the beginning of the game, the combat feels exceedingly similar between the characters. Given that you start with no abilities, Nightwing, Robin, Batgirl, and Red Hood are limited to a bare-bones melee/dodge/ranged attack kit, and the combat with the random fodder becomes a simple game of dodge repeatedly until an opening is revealed. After you get a few levels, you’re able to start distinguishing the characters’ kits in big ways. Red Hood’s able to invest in both “totally non-lethal ammunition” and a grapple heavy kit. Nightwing gets various acrobatic feats and co-op centric support baths. Batgirl’s surprisingly has the most health of all of the characters and features a straightforward bruiser style with some Oracle shenanigans mixed in. And finally, Robin has improved stealth combat capabilities and increasingly potent elemental effects.
A significant part of the Gotham Knights’ kit lies within the Knighthood skill tree which is unlocked individually for each character for clearing 10 premeditated crimes, three mini-bosses, and doing the basic. It’s a grindy looter-shooter relic that culminates with your character having an understated epiphany that doesn’t fulfill the promise that the Knighthood would be a unique experience that helps the characters grow, but further allows you to customize their playstyle.
That being said, the game writers very clearly love the characters. While the main story is fairly paint by the numbers as you pick up Batman’s last investigation case and eventually get involved with the Court of Owls, the character interactions are entirely point. The bits of dialog between characters perfectly captures each of the character’s natures whether it is Red Hood’s curt snark or Nightwing’s flippant quips. The contextual dialog in the different scenes is a great touch, and the various mini-cutscenes that show the Batfamily interacting with each other in different contexts were both laugh out loud funny and emotionally sweet.
None of this is more evident than when playing co-op. While the game struggles at times, the majority of the time either while playing with friends or randomly matchmaking in another player’s world, the experience was surprisingly smooth. Whether we stuck together to tackle harder missions or divided and conquered to maximize objective clearing, it became very clear that the game intended to be played with a friend, especially with all of the fun banter between the characters. The idle dialog and exchange really capture the spirit of the comics, and I personally adore it. And in particular, I want to highlight Stephen Oyoung’s performance of Red Hood as one of the best interpretations of the character right up there with the original Batman: Under the Red Hood.
It’s largely because of this fantastic distillation of the Batfamily that makes me want to love this game. But more often than not, the game made it very difficult for me to love it. Although, we ended up coming to an understanding.
The UI is clumsy on controller with several layers of prompts and button inputs that lead to several mistakes and mis-presses forcing you to restart the process of viewing a specific objective or a piece of gear. You randomly acquire loot while playing and have to individually check each piece or lore in order to get rid of the annoying blinking new item notification. Lesser mods can be fused, but the mods’ effects are hard to feel in the moment-to-moment gameplay. The loot itself feels entirely inconsequential while leveling up until it suddenly becomes mandatory and then again when the gear trivializes the encounter design entirely. There’s a weird five elemental affinity mechanics that is only ever explained during briefly loading screen tips that are able to make combat easier, but more crucially are able to completely neuter your ability to do anything to certain enemies. Some character progression is locked behind open world collectibles (a known anathema of mind) and others are locked behind awkward objectives. Later enemies completely mitigate certain combat tactics and at various times there are instant-kill mechanics that ruin otherwise interesting set pieces and moments.
At various times, I questioned whether or not I actually liked the game or whether I was just playing because of the specific itch to want to play Red Hood. I’d play for a few hours reluctantly grinding through objectives and then spend several hours gleefully domineering over groups. My enjoyment oscillated so much it was almost as vertigo inducing as the finicky camera or the awkward grappling hook that always picks the worst possible anchor point. But I did indeed find myself itching to play more and more once I got through the low lows.
Spoilers Inbound (Not the Batfamily One Though)
In this section, I shall be discussing some specific instances of the game that constitute as spoilers and if you’d like to avoid that, you can just skip to the summary.
The game constantly teeters between “good idea, rough execution” and an exasperated ask of “who hurt you,” which is probably no better emphasized with the three major side missions in the game. At some point in the story, you go head to Harley Quinn, Mr. Freeze, and Clayface in a little sequence that takes you through a small reflective journey.
Mr. Freeze’s introductory mission takes you through the hall of S.T.A.R. Labs and eventually through various missions and petty crimes that brake up progress until the point where you scale a frozen Eliot building to confront Freeze while a storm engine blares in the background. An incredible set piece that is immediately ruined by the bullet sponge nature of the fight and unforgiving area of effects of charged freeze beams that can track you aggressive and homing missiles that need a very wide berth to avoid.
This fight took forever as a solo player, at least in part due to the fact I had inadvertently equipped cyro weapons, but the second and final version of the fight where Freeze had a mecha was similarly infuriated and despite being over-leveled and using the correct fire weapons, I had to turn the game difficulty down to keep my sanity and even then it still me twenty minutes.
Harley Quinn’s route was less rage inducing but only by a hair. After breaking into a theater, the game eventually places you in a death pit with two large bruisers of mini-bosses, wave after wave of re-spawning adds, and then on top of that has the audacity to introduce insta-death mechanics in the forms of one to three bombs that have to be disabled, all of which can be easily interrupted by the camera or any enemy attack in the small arena. That particular encounter was so painfully obvious designed with two people in mind, and once I did hop onto co-op, it was manageable and fair in a way that the solo-ing could never.
With Clayface, I had reached the max level of 30, so combat wise nothing was too egregious, but in the final Clayface there was a mandatory auto-scroller bat sequence that killed me about 7 times because I hadn’t used the Batcycle after unlocking fast travel points and heroic traversal methods. Most of the fails were due to user error, but at least three simply felt that the game decided to kill me randomly for being hopeful.
And the main campaign isn’t exempt for this nonsense, as higher end enemies seem to have a much more responsive dodge command than mine. The Court of Owls in particular have ridiculously mobile Talons, and the League of Shadows units straight up can’t be grappled which is terrible as 50% of my skill tree as Red Hood is dedicated to being able to grab enemies. This high variance and parity in encounter difficulty really hampers the play-through, and at any given point, I am either fighting for dear life or causally clearing mobs, freaks, and regulators with ease.
But the small story beats are absolutely incredible. Between an exchange between Dick and Jason over an incident with a can of tomatoes, the different lines of dialog, the memory of Batman encouraging his proteges with post-mind’s eyes training, to the the most endearing cut scenes between the cast, coupled with a somewhat satisfying endgame grind, it is all enough to keep a semi-vested interest.
At the End of the Knight…
Ultimately, I liked the time I spend with Gotham Knights. The foundation is admittedly shaky with what feels like weak technical optimization and various questionable design choices intended to prolong play time, but the game itself is fun. When the game isn’t swinging wildly between ends of its challenge, getting to play as your favorite Batfamily character is a ton of fun, and playing with a friend as you utilize different skills to tackle a surprising variety of objectives is very cool. But, it’s hard to wholeheartedly recommend this game to anyone outside of the dedicated Batfanatics. While the game is fun, it also suffers from repetition, and there are long stretches of the game where I was engaged only on the promise of it getting better. But it was fun, and there are several opportunities for continuation and more playable characters that make it even more enticing. While the game isn’t a true live service game, the fact remains that DLC introducing other members of the Batfamily and adding more factions and villains to the mix would definitely be welcome.
So while I can’t endorse the full $70 price tag, I do think that Gotham Knights is worth picking up at some point in the future, and perhaps the Heroic Assault game mode will also add some much needed life to the game, but that doesn’t come out until the end of the month. At the end of the day, you have a fun adaption of the Court of Owl mythos in a game that as fun as it is infuriating at times. As I slog through the New Game Plus making me replay the worst parts of the game with the same number of enemies, I question why there was a NG+ in the first place, but the end promise of a more powerful Knight has me invested just enough to play to a point where my friends and I can eventually partake in co-op and enjoy the frenetic streets of Gotham as WB Games Montreal intended.
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The post A Case Report from 7 Days in ‘Gotham Knights’ appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.