Chadwick Boseman's legacy is written large on the script of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. However, the much-anticipated sequel suffers from the lack of a well-defined central hero.

The film, sequel to 2018's Black Panther, suffered a great loss when star Boseman died of colon cancer. While some fans advocated for the role to be recast, Marvel's creative team wisely (in my opinion) decided not to replace the beloved star. So, instead, the characters in Wakanda Forever are dealing with the aftermath of T'Challa's death from an undisclosed illness, leaving the nation of Wakanda without its king and protector.

In his absence, the kingdom is ruled by T'Challa's mother, Ramonda (Angela Bassett), who is fiercely protective of her people and her surviving child, Shuri (Letitia Wright), a scientific prodigy who rivals -- perhaps even exceeds -- Tony Stark for genius. But, while Shuri is in many ways the protagonist of the film, she doesn't assume the hero's role until near the end -- and it lifts viewers out of the action just a bit to see a slightly built and bookish character suddenly become a skilled action hero with little to no training or practice.

Wakanda has withdrawn from the world stage following T'Challa's death, but other nations are seeking to gain its unique supply of vibranium. When a second supply of the precious metal is found in the ocean, the underwater kingdom of Talokan, a mesoamerican version of Atlantis, goes to war with the surface to protect themselves from encroachment. They are led by K'uk'ulkan, aka Namor (Tenoch Huerta Mejia), a mutant who can breathe in air or water, has super strength and can fly because he has tiny wings on his ankles. Namor, although he proposes an alliance with Wakanda, is fairly brutal when confronting his perceived foes, and he and his people rack up a pretty high body count as the movie progresses. Once he decides that Wakanda, too, is an enemy, he is ruthless in his attacks.

A lot of people die on both sides of the conflict, including one very prominent character, which makes the conclusion of the movie a little hard to swallow. Will the mutant fishman who killed several Americans and dozens -- possibly hundreds, even thousands -- of Wakandans ever be welcomed as a "good guy" by the superhero community? It doesn't seem likely.

Which leads us to Shuri, who abruptly abandons her science in favor of her late brother's mantle.

Two other characters -- Nakia (Lupita Nyong'o) and Okoye (Danai Gurira) -- seem like more suitable candidates for the Black Panther role, but they're never considered in the film. And, while Riri (Dominique Thorne) is poised to follow in Iron Man's footsteps as the new armored character Ironheart, Okoye becomes another Iron Man-like character by donning brand spanking new blue Midnight Angel armor, which she also masters without training or practice.

It also doesn't seem likely that CIA operative Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) would suddenly decide his loyalties are to Wakanda, rather than the United States, simply because a Wakandan saved his life. But there you are.

Without dipping into any more spoilers, the movie ends with questionable choices for the new king of Wakanda as well as the new Black Panther, all while introducing a possible future successor to both. It makes one wonder if the original script -- which pitted T'Challa's Black Panther against Namor -- was rewritten too hastily, without enough consideration of the changes being made.

While I truly loved the original Black Panther movie and I enjoyed its sequel to some extent, Wakanda Forever doesn't leave the title character in a good place for future appearances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.