Marvel's Eyes Of Wakanda Is Great, But It Creates A Big Problem For Vibranium
by Rick Stevenson · /Film"Eyes of Wakanda" is yet another strong entry in the recent run of original Marvel animated series on Disney+, following on the heels of great shows like "X-Men '97" and "Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man." While the computer-animated look of "Wakanda" doesn't stand out in quite the same way as the more hand-drawn aesthetics of those previous series, it still looks good, and there's a lot of interesting material in the four episodes, each one telling an independent story of Wakanda's secret spy network, the Hatut Zaraze.
But there's one thing that keeps bugging me: vibranium. The mystery metal from space, the source of Wakanda's hyper-advanced technology in the present-day MCU, has always been somewhat ill-defined in the franchise. It's basically indestructible and absorbs energy at an extreme rate. It's also responsible for transforming the ecosystems around it. In the movies, this typically manifests as sci-fi tech like flying vehicles, supersuits, energy weapons, cloaking devices, etc.
But in "Eyes of Wakanda," we jump back thousands of years, and in many ways, the potency of Wakanda's vibranium tech seems... largely the same? They have holographic projections, spears and knives that fire purple energy blasts, and other devices that, for all intents and purposes, seem to be about as advanced as what we see in the modern day. Now, I'm entirely open to the idea that the mere presence of vibranium led to Wakandan civilization hitting certain other technological advancements well before the rest of the human world. But that's not necessarily in-line with what we see in the "Black Panther" movies.
How does vibranium technology actually work?
I understand that vibranium is incredibly durable. I understand that it is an amazing conductor of energy. But I understand less how that leads to "Star Wars" space binoculars in 1200 BC, or why any given vibranium-imbued spear or broach basically functions like a red barrel in a video game, waiting for any stray blow to detonate it.
And I want to be extremely clear that this confusion does not ruin, or even really hamper, my enjoyment of "Eyes of Wakanda." If anything, these are questions I would love more thorough explanations of. The story of how access to a particular mineral led to not just stronger armor, but the discovery of electricity and digital technologies thousands of years early would be fascinating to see. The fact that every "vibranium artifact" in the new show basically feels like a magical trinket with glowy purple vibes seems reductive to me.
It also begs some questions about how Wakandan civilization evolved more recently — or rather, how it didn't.
Wakanda should be even more advanced than it is in the MCU
Yes, Wakanda is incredibly advanced by today's standards when we see it in the "Black Panther" and "Avengers" movies. But in an age when Iron Man suits, S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarriers, and all manner of other sci-fi tech exists all over the world, it's also not that far of a bridge to cross. "Eyes of Wakanda" shows that many of the core systems that make up Wakanda — digital communication, advanced air travel, the sophisticated clean-energy rail systems seen in the first "Black Panther" — are at least 600 years old. So why is Shuri's impact-absorption technology treated as being so groundbreaking in the movies? Why doesn't Wakanda already have the medical technology required to save T'Challa's life when he dies?
Yes, this is plot-hole-punching — a low-class Internet activity that I try hard not to dabble in. If anything, the version of Wakanda shown in the new "Black Panther" spin-off series is more intriguing because it shows an even more advanced world. And in fairness, the animated shows aren't necessarily meant to be one-to-one matches with the main MCU. But when you go out of your way to make so many connections, these sorts of questions are going to arise.
It's very likely that I'm the problem. Maybe too many years of Marvel Easter egg hunting have left me unable to take the version of events right in front of me at face value. There is a ton of really cool stuff in "Eyes of Wakanda." I just still have absolutely no idea how vibranium actually works.