Awards season continues to heat up, as last night’s Critic’s Choice Awards served as another step on the path toward this year’s Oscar hopefuls. Winning for her role in the latest Marvel movie Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Angela Bassett took home another trophy last night for Best Supporting Actress, moving her own odds one step closer to Oscars victory and her speech was a memorable one.
While accepting her award, the actor shared one specific prayer when it came to the film’s continued success. During her acceptance speech at last night’s Critics Choice Awards, which made its way to Twitter, Bassett highlighted her continued hope that cinematic representation would continue to thrive after this latest hit in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Laying out her feelings on the matter as she closed out her remarks, Angela Bassett’s sentiment was shared as follows:
We showed the world that we could create and lead a billion-dollar box-office success. And my prayer is that that door remains open and the sky is the limit for other Black creators and storytellers around the world to join us.
The Black Panther series has always been a beacon of successful representation for Black heroes and characters. 2018’s first installment was a runaway box office hit, as Chadwick Boseman’s solo MCU adventure brought in around $1.3 billion upon release. That only continued with the $835.2 million showing that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever racked up last fall, and now the awards recognition continuing to pour in for Angela Bassett.
Bassett is also among the crop of 2023 Golden Globes winners, scoring her previous award for the season in that voting body’s Best Supporting Actress field as well. Reprising her role as Queen Ramonda, Wakanda Forever saw the remaining monarch of Wakanda put through tests of strength, in the wake of personal adversity and loss. That much could be felt in Angela Bassett's acceptance speech as well, with her adding this final note of tribute to her late co-star:
Thank you to Chadwick, for your love and light surrounding us. We couldn’t have made history, then and now, without you.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever presented many challenges in the wake of Boseman's untimely passing. One specific twist that came as a result of retooling the film saw Angela Bassett respectfully pushing back against Ryan Coogler over one of the film's big scenes, so it's clear she had a big impact on (and in) the movie. Also, when it came to her performance as Wakanda’s reigning queen, Bassett’s grueling stunt scene added some physical challenges to the emotional weight of the project. A complex movie all around, the Black Panther sequel continues to make a name for itself as a Marvel movie outside of the norm of what fans typically see on the big screen.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever came together as a film that raised the stakes as a comic adventure, while also continuing to push for better diversity throughout the entertainment industry through its success. As Angela Bassett continues to be recognized for her sterling work in that picture, her message only gets clearer for all that need to hear it.
If you’re interested in streaming Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, you won’t have to wait too long. February 1st marks the debut of Ryan Coogler’s latest MCU adventure, and it’ll be available in the same place you can currently watch most of all the other MCU films and TV shows. An active Disney+ subscription is all you’ll need to be ready for the return to Wakanda at your own leisure.
