Mexican Actors Shine In 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' Movie

The movie, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”, a sequel to the 2018 blockbuster movie based on the Marvel Comics character Black Panther, was released in Mexico last week and has a significant number of Mexican actors playing important roles.

The 41-year-old actor Tenoch Huerta, who was born in Ecatepec in the state of México, stars as the movie’s main villain character. In the movie, Huerta plays the role of Namor the Sub-Mariner, who leads his blue-skinned, water-breathing people on an invasion of the futuristic country of Wakanda. Before nabbing the role in the new Marvel movie, Huerta was previously seen as the drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero in the Netflix show “Narcos: Mexico,” Mexico News Daily reported.

The movie also features Mexican actress 32-year-old Mabel Cadena, in the smaller role of Namor’s cousin, a warrior character named Namora. Cadena was born in Naucalpan in the state of México and grew up in Minatitlán, Veracruz.

Mexican actress Lupita Nyong’o, 39, played the significant role of Nakia in the film. Nyong’o, an Academy Award-winning actress, won an Academy Award in 2014 for the best-supporting actress for the movie “12 Years a Slave.” Her family moved back to Africa when she was barely 1 year old. However, she later returned to Mexico as a teen to learn Spanish and lived in Taxco, Guerrero, for seven months.

Huerta, Cadena, and Nyong’o appeared together at the Mexican premiere of the movie at the Cinépolis Plaza Satélite in Naucalpan on Thursday, Nov. 10.

The first had movie grossed more than US $1.3 billion worldwide, broke numerous box office records, and was the highest-grossing film ever directed by a Black filmmaker.

Huerta is hoping that the movie creates a demand for Mexican and other Latin American talents.

“I hope that this film empowers and opens the eyes of producers and directors and platforms in Latin America,” he said at the premiere in Naucalpan, “so that they understand that [Latino] representation matters [and] sells. We are the majority and we deserve to be on the screen.”

In addition to the Mexican cast members, the movie also includes a lot of Mexican, Latino, and Mesoamerican music composed by Music Composer Ludwig Göransson who had spent a lot of time in Mexico City and Lagos familiarizing himself with local music.