The MCU faithful have been through a lot in recent days as Marvel Studios took off the wraps on its next nearly half-decade of super-powered storytelling. The announcements, which were made as a part of San Diego Comic-Con, included two new Avengers movies, another look at She-Hulk, and the very first trailer for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. This comes after a busy year for the MCU at the movies that included the likes of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and the record-breaking Thor: Love and Thunder.
Ryan Coogler's latest Wakandan epic will finally release after one of the most troubled productions in franchise history. Not only have the Black Panther 2 cast and crew had to deal with a global pandemic, but also the tragic loss of series star Chadwick Boseman.
All this turmoil and pent-up emotion culminated at Marvel's SDCC panel, as the new trailer shocked the world with a moving look at the journey Wakanda Forever is set to take audiences on. The trailer blew up online almost instantly, quickly becoming one of the dominant topics of conversation.
Black Panther Back in the Spotlight
According to Variety, the first Black Panther: Wakanda Forever trailer nabbed a total of 172 million views online in its 24 hours. This marks the sneak peek as one of the MCU's biggest trailers ever, but it was not the biggest.
Despite nearly doubling the 88 million views the first Black Panther trailer received back in 2018, Wakanda Forever still came behind this year's Thor: Love and Thunder (209 million views).
The Ryan Coogler-directed sequel also trails behind a quartet of Avengers trailers with the Avengers: Endgame teaser (289 million), Avengers: Endgame final trailer (268 million), Avengers: Infinity War teaser (230 million), and Avengers: Infinity War final trailer (179 million) all attracting more eyeballs.
One thing to note, however, is the timing of the Wakanda Forever trailer's release. While most studios opt to have their trailer debut early on a Monday morning (i.e. Thor: Love and Thunder's first trailer came out at 10:00 am ET on a Monday), the first look at Black Panther 2 came out much later in the day, not showing up until 9:20 pm ET on a Saturday.
Mantling the Marvel Marketing Mountain
Trailer releases are a delicate dance. While a Marvel Studios trailer is going to get eyeballs on it no matter when it releases, the timing of these things can greatly affect just how high up the all-time viewership lists these things can climb.
The Black Panther: Wakanda Forever trailer is in a peculiar place amongst its MCU brethren. Seeing as this first look at the upcoming film was a part of the Marvel San Diego Comic-Con panel, the studio had their hands somewhat tied as to when specifically it could be released.
One thing to note here is that this later-in-the-day release timing doesn't seem to be the problem. The first Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer came out at 9:30 pm ET and still became the biggest Marvel trailer of all time. But that was also on a Monday instead of a Saturday. Just like Thor: Love and Thunder, No Way Home's first tease for Spidey also started off the week, where many eyes were sitting primed to take it in.
This is contrary to when Wakanda Forever released its trailer on a Saturday, when much of the viewing public is off enjoying the weekend. Even though it came during Comic-Con, it still didn't hit those same first-24-hour viewing numbers the MCU has seen in the past.
Despite not quite topping the charts, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever's first glimpse was a momentous occasion, and has fans clamoring for that November 11 release date.
